The story
- Proto-Celtic · derived from*anderā“young woman”
- Gaulish · derived fromanderon“heifer”
- Old French · derived fromandier
- Middle English · inherited fromaundire
- English todayandiron
From Middle English aundire, aundiren, from Old French andier (possibly from Gaulish anderon (“heifer”)) compare Welsh anner, annair (“heifer”), Breton annoar (“heifer”), from Proto-Celtic *anderā (“young woman”), due either to their somewhat animal-like appearance of four legs or to the prominent figuring of bull and heifer design elements; compare its alternative names of fire-dog and dog-iron. Spelling influenced by iron.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.