Skier

How to spell skier

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce skier

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does skier mean?

1. nounA person who travels over snow on skis, especially for sport.

Skier in a sentence

• The experienced skier chose the steepest slope on the mountain.

• Every skier on the lift wore a helmet and goggles.

Where does skier come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

This word is built on 'ski', which English borrowed from Norwegian in the nineteenth century, where it meant a long wooden runner strapped to the foot for travelling over snow. The Norwegian word itself descends from the Old Norse 'skíth', meaning a split length of wood, a stick, or a snowshoe, the same root that gave English 'skid' and the verb 'shed' in the sense of splitting off. Once skiing became a popular sport, English simply added the everyday agent suffix '-er' to name the person doing it, giving 'skier'. The spelling keeps the silent-looking vowel cluster from 'ski', so the agent form lands on the slightly awkward 'skier' rather than a doubled or dropped letter. Because the noun 'ski' already ends in a vowel, writers sometimes hesitate over whether to add 'er', double a consonant, or insert an extra vowel, which is the small trap here.

How the word is built

• ski (from Norwegian ski: a wooden runner)
• -er (agent suffix: one who does)