Retriever

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɹiˈtɹivəɹ/

Definitions

1. A dog bred to find and bring back game birds or other items to its handler
2. A breed of dog known for its ability to locate and bring back hunted birds or other items to a person
3. A type of dog specially trained to search for and carry back game or other items to its owner

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "retriever" is how little of it is new. The word is simply "retrieve" with the agentive ending "-er", so a retriever is literally one who retrieves. The "-er" suffix has a long pedigree: it passed from Latin "-ārius" through Old French "-ier" into Middle English "-er", and it was already doing this job in Old English "-ere". Its Latin ancestor sits behind a whole family of English words, from "butcher" to "gardener." "Retrieve" itself came from Old French "retrouver," meaning to find again, and the sense of recovering or bringing back is the one the dog inherited. Breeders later applied the name to dogs trained to fetch shot game for hunters, so the word narrowed from anyone who recovers things to a single kind of animal.

Synonyms: dog, fetcher, retrieving dog, retrieving breed