Holder

How to spell holder

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce holder

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does holder mean?

1. nounAn object designed to grip, support, or contain something.
2. nounA person who possesses, owns, or controls something such as an account, ticket, or title.

Holder in a sentence

• She slid her phone into the magnetic holder on the dashboard.

• Each account holder must verify their identity before withdrawing funds.

• The brass candle holder sat in the centre of the table.

• The current record holder trained for years to keep her title.

Where does holder come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Holder is a thoroughly Germanic word, built from the verb 'hold', which descends from the Old English healdan, meaning 'to keep, to grasp, or to guard'. That verb has cousins right across the old Germanic languages, including the Dutch houden and the German halten, all carrying the same idea of keeping something firmly in hand. The agent suffix -er, also native to English, simply turns the verb into 'one who or that which holds', a pattern English uses freely in words like reader and grinder. The form appears in writing from the medieval period and has stayed remarkably stable in spelling ever since. Because the parts are so plain, the only mild trap is remembering it is hold plus er, not the doubled or altered ending some writers expect.

How the word is built

• hold (from Old English healdan: to keep, grasp)
• -er (agent suffix: one that does)