Driver
/ˈdraɪ.vər/noun
A person or thing that drives, especially one who operates a vehicle.
Did you know?Driver comes from Old English *drīfan* meaning “to drive, urge, or pursue,” a root that also gave us *drive*, *drift*, and even *drove* in its older sense of a herd being driven along.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dhrew-
“to run, flow, or move onward”
Old English
OE
drīfan
“to drive, propel, pursue, or hunt”
Middle English
ME
driven / drivere
“to force onward; one who drives animals or a vehicle”
14th Century
English
driver
“a person who drives livestock, a cart, or other conveyance”
Modern English
English
driver
“a person who operates a vehicle; by extension, something that causes motion or change”