singer meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

Singer

nounalso spelled Singer

Etymology From singer. * (sewing machines): Named after American inventor and businessman I. M. Singer, the company founder of Singer Sewing Machines * (motorcars): Named after British entrepreneur and businessman George Singer, the company founder of Singer & Co.

Business, Manufacturing, Sewing, Textiles A sewing machine of the Singer brand.

They were ancient industrial Singers, made of iron and brass and strung with heavy cotton binding thread that fed like spider webs from spools perched on tall twin spindles.2021, Ruth Ozeki, The Book of Form and Emptiness, Canongate Books (2022), page 288:

Automotive, Transport, Vehicles UK A motorcar from a former make of British motor car.

singer

noun

UK /ˈsɪŋ.ə/ · US /ˈsɪŋ.ɚ/

Etymology Inherited from Middle English synger, syngere, singere, singare, equivalent to sing + -er. Cognate with Scots singar, Saterland Frisian Sjunger, West Frisian sjonger, German Low German Singer. Compare also Old English sangere, Dutch zanger, German Low German Sänger, German Sänger (“singer”), Danish sanger, Swedish sångare, Icelandic söngvari.

A person who sings, often professionally.

It's the singer, not the song.

dance figure with a fixed structure, sung by a caller, or a piece of music with that structure.

Synonyms: cantor, crooner, chanter
Derived terms: carol singer, filksinger, folksinger, ghost singer, lounge singer, nonsinger, opera singer, pop singer, singeress, singerlike, singerly, singer-songwriter, singress, square dance singer, supersinger, torch singer
Related terms: mastersinger, meistersinger, songer, songster, songstress
Hyponyms: cantrix, chanteuse, chantress, singeress, songstress, songster

singer

noun

/ˈsɪnd͡ʒə(ɹ)/

Etymology From singe + -er.

A person who, or device which, singes.

A machine for singeing cloth.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for Singer and singer.