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Today it means

auger

a tool with a spiral bit for boring holes

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Where does the word "auger" come from? It comes from Old English nafogār, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).

Read the full story

Where does the word "auger" come from? It comes from Old English nafogār, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).

Auger’s story begins in Old English: nafogār meant “hub-borer.” Nafu 'hub of a wheel' (English 'nave') + gār 'spear', a tool for boring holes in wheel hubs. It reached English by 1400s as auger. 'a nauger' was split as 'an auger', losing its first letter. Today, auger means a tool with a spiral bit for boring holes.

  1. Stage 1 · Old English · medieval nafogār "hub-borer", nafu 'hub of a wheel' (English 'nave') + gār 'spear', a tool for boring holes in wheel hubs.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1400s auger "boring tool", 'a nauger' was split as 'an auger', losing its first letter.

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