drinker
UK[ˈdrɪŋkə(r)]US[ˈdrɪŋkər]
n
A person who drinks something, especially alcohol.
n
A container from which a person or animal drinks.
Morpheme Breakdown
drink
er
drink
to consume liquid
er
agent suffix
Etymology
The word "drinker" is a straightforward agent noun formation from the verb "drink." The core verb "drink" originates from the Proto-Germanic \drinkaną, which carried the essential meaning of swallowing liquid. This Germanic root is itself derived from the Proto-Indo-European \dʰrenǵ-, meaning "to draw, to pull," a semantic connection that can be seen in the action of drawing liquid into the mouth. The suffix "-er," one of the most productive in English, is added directly to the verb stem to create a noun denoting a person (or sometimes an object) habitually or professionally associated with the action. Thus, the literal "one who drinks" evolved to its primary modern sense specifying a person who consumes alcoholic beverages, while retaining the more general meaning of one who consumes any liquid.
Analysis
Structure: drink (to consume liquid) + er (agent suffix)
- drink: From Old English drincan (to swallow liquid, absorb), of Germanic origin.
- er: A native English suffix forming agent nouns from verbs, indicating "a person or thing that does something."
Examples
He was known as a heavy drinker in his younger years.
The bird feeder includes a built-in water drinker.
She is a social drinker who only has wine at parties.