Quaker

How to spell quaker

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce quaker

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does quaker mean?

1. nounA member of the Religious Society of Friends, a Christian movement known for plain worship and pacifism.

Quaker in a sentence

• The quaker meeting house in the town had no altar and no minister.

• As a committed quaker, she refused on principle to serve in the army.

Where does quaker come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word is built from the verb 'quake', which comes from the Old English cwacian, meaning to tremble or shake, plus the agent suffix '-er' marking the one who does the action. In its plainest sense a quaker is therefore simply something or someone that shakes. The famous religious meaning, the member of the Religious Society of Friends, began in the 1650s as a mocking nickname; one widely repeated account says the movement's founder George Fox told a magistrate to tremble at the word of the Lord, and the label stuck. The Friends themselves adopted the once-derisive name with calm good humour, and it has been spelled with a 'k' ever since because it descends from 'quake' rather than from any Latin or French source. The spelling trap is small but real: the long vowel is written 'qua', and the soft middle sound is a plain 'k', not a 'c'.

How the word is built

• quake (to tremble, from Old English cwacian)
• -er (agent/noun suffix: one who does)