Goalkeeper

How to spell goalkeeper

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce goalkeeper

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does goalkeeper mean?

1. nounThe player positioned to guard the goal and stop the ball or puck from entering it.

Goalkeeper in a sentence

• The goalkeeper dived to her left and palmed the ball over the bar.

• A good goalkeeper can win a match almost single-handedly.

Where does goalkeeper come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent English compound built from three native pieces. The first element, goal, appeared in English in the 1500s meaning a boundary or finishing point, and its earlier origins are genuinely murky, possibly linked to an Old English word for a barrier or limit. The second part comes from the Old English verb cepan, meaning 'to seize, watch over, or guard', the same root that gives us 'keep' and 'keeper'. By the rise of organised football and hockey in the nineteenth century, the two ideas were welded together to name the player whose single job is to guard the goal. Because every piece is a familiar everyday word, the spelling holds no real surprises; the only thing to watch is keeping the doubled 'e' in 'keep' intact and remembering it is written as one solid word.

How the word is built

• goal (the target net)
• keep (to guard)
• -er (one who does)