Etymology

tower

tow·er
T1O1W4E1R1

Today it means: A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure. Full definition →

Middle English tour ← Old English tūr ← Old French tour
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tower · noun1

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromτύρρις
  2. Latin · derived fromturris“a tower”
  3. Old French · derived fromtour
  4. Old English · inherited fromtūr
  5. Middle English · inherited fromtour
  6. English todaytower

From Middle English tour, tur, tor, from Old English tūr, tor, torr ("tower; rock"; > English tor) and Old French tour, toer, tor; both from Latin turris (“a tower”), Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis) (Hesychius), τύρσις (túrsis). Displaced native Middle English stepel for the general sense of "tower". Compare Scots tour, towr, towre (“tower”), West Frisian toer (“tower”), Dutch toren (“tower”), German Turm (“tower”), Danish tårn (“tower”), Swedish torn (“tower”), Icelandic turn (“tower”), Welsh tŵr. Doublet of tor, tourelle, and turret.

tower · verb2

  1. Old English · inherited from*torrian
  2. Middle English · inherited fromtouren
  3. English todaytower

From Middle English touren, torren, torrien, from Old English *torrian, from the noun (see above).

tower · noun3

From tow + -er.

Words from the same roots

Old Frenchtour all →

tour

Latinturris all →

torTorresturretturribrachycephalyturriliteturriphileturriphilia

Ancient Greekτύρρις all →

torturriphilia

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.