Etymology

eager

ea·ger
E1A1G2E1R1

Today it means: Desirous; keen to do or obtain something. Full definition →

Middle English egre ← Old French aigre ← Late Latin ācrus
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

eager · adjective, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱrós
  3. Proto-Italic*akris
  4. Classical Latinācer
  5. Late Latinācrus
  6. Old Frenchaigre
  7. Middle Englishegre
  8. English todayeager

Inherited from Middle English egre, eger, from Old French aigre, egre (modern French aigre), from Latin ācrus, variant of ācer (“sharp, keen”); see acid, acerb, etc. Compare vinegar, alegar.

eager · noun2

See eagre.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.