Gleaner
/ˈɡliːnər/noun
A person or machine that gathers leftover crops or collects something gradually and selectively.
Did you know?Biblical gleaning laws required landowners to leave field edges and fallen crops for the poor, making gleaning an early religiously mandated form of social welfare.
Etymological Timeline
Late Latin or Gaulish substrate
Latin/Celtic
glennare
“A proposed source meaning “to gather,” though the ultimate origin is uncertain.”
12th Century
Old French
glener
“To gather leftover grain or crops after the main harvest.”
Middle English
English
glenen
“To collect ears of grain left in a harvested field.”
14th Century
English
gleaner
“A person who gleans, formed from the verb with the agent suffix -er.”
Modern English
English
gleaner
“A person or machine that collects remnants, information, or resources selectively.”