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Origin and history of idler

idler(n.)

"one who spends his time in inaction," 1530s, agent noun from idle (v.).

also from 1530s

Entries linking to idler

idle(v.)

late 15c., "make vain or worthless" (trans.), from idle (adj.). Meaning "spend or waste (time)" is from 1650s. Meaning "cause to be idle" is from 1788. Intrans. sense of "run slowly and steadily without transmitting power" (as a motor) first recorded 1916. Related: Idled; idling. As a noun, 1630s of persons, 1939 of an engine setting.

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    Trends of idler

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    loafer
    "idler, person who loafs," 1830, of uncertain origin, often regarded as a shortened variant of land loper (1795), a partial loan-translation of German Landläufer "vagabond," from Land "land" + Läufer "runner," from laufen "to run" (see leap (v.)). But OED finds this connection "n
    scurrilous
    scurrile "coarsely joking" (implied in scurrility), from Latin scurrilis "buffoon-like," from scurra "fashionable city idler...
    drone
    Given a figurative sense of "idler, lazy worker" (male bees make no honey) 1520s....
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    [Johnson, "The Idler," Jan. 20, 1758]...
    poem
    1540s, "written composition in metrical form, a composition arranged in verses or measures"  (replacing poesy in this sense), from French poème (14c.), from Latin poema "composition in verse, poetry," from Greek poēma "fiction, poetical work," literally "thing made or create
    wild
    Old English wilde "in the natural state, uncultivated, untamed, undomesticated, uncontrolled," from Proto-Germanic *wildia- (source also of Old Saxon wildi, Old Norse villr, Old Frisian wilde, Dutch wild, Old High German wildi, German wild, Gothic wilþeis "wild," German Wild (n.)
    Edda
    1771, by some identified with the name of the old woman (literally "grandmother") in the Old Norse poem "Rigsþul," by others derived from Old Norse oðr "spirit, mind, passion, song, poetry" (cognate with Old Irish faith "poet," Welsh gwawd "poem," Old English woþ "sound, melody,
    trailer
    1580s, "hound or huntsman that follows a trail," agent noun from trail (v.). From 1610s as "something that trails." By 1890 as "vehicle pulled by another;" originally a small carriage drawn along by a bicycle. The meaning "advertisement run alongside a motion picture" is attested
    poke
    "to push or thrust against, to prod," especially with something long or pointed, c. 1300, puken, poken "to poke, nudge," a word of obscure origin, perhaps from or related to Middle Dutch poken "to poke" (Dutch beuken), or Middle Low German poken "to stick with a knife" (compare G
    busy
    Old English bisig "careful, anxious," later "continually employed or occupied, in constant or energetic action" cognate with Old Dutch bezich, Low German besig, but having no known connection with any other Germanic or Indo-European language. Still pronounced as in Middle English

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