Etymology

auger

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Today it means: A carpenter's tool for boring holes longer than those bored by a gimlet. Full definition →

Middle English a nauger ← Old English nafugār ← Proto-West Germanic *nabugaiʀ
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auger · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*nabōgaizaz
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*nabugaiʀ
  3. Old English · inherited fromnafugār“nave drill”
  4. Middle English · inherited froma nauger
  5. English todayauger

From a rebracketing of Middle English a nauger (seen as an + auger), from Old English nafugār (“nave drill”, literally “nave spear”), from Proto-West Germanic *nabugaiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *nabōgaizaz. Cognate with Dutch avegaar.

Auger · proper noun2

  1. French · borrowed fromAuger
  2. English todayAuger

* As a French surname, borrowed from French Auger. * As a German surname, a variant of Auer, with the -g- said to reflect a West Frisian influence. * As an English surname, variant of Alger.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.