Tunnelier
/ˌtʌnəˈlɪər/noun
A person or machine that excavates a tunnel, especially a tunneling machine.
Did you know?Tunnelier is a French loanword, built from tunnel plus the agentive suffix -ier, and it names one of the most modern forms of subterranean power: the machine that bores beneath cities.
Etymological Timeline
19th Century
French
tunnelier
“A tunnel worker or tunneling machine”
19th Century
French
tunnel
“A passage dug through earth or rock”
18th Century
English
tunnel
“A subterranean passage”
17th Century
French
tonnelle
“A small covered passage or arched structure; later influenced the modern form”
Late Middle English
English
tonel
“A tunnel or shaft-like passage”
Explore more surprising origins