player1
(ˈpleɪə(r))
Forms: 1 pleᵹere, 4 pleier, 5 pleyar(e, 5–6 pleyer, 5–7 plaier, (6 plear), 5– player.
[OE. pleᵹere, f. pleᵹan, play v. + -er1.]
I. One who plays.
1. In general sense. (The OE. instance appears to be a mistranslation by the glossator.)
| c 1000 ælfric Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 108/9 Gimnosophista, nacod pleᵹere. 1382 Wyclif Jer. xv. 17, I sat not in counseil of pleieres [Vulg. ludentium], and gloriede fro the face of thin hond. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 404/1 Pleyare, lusor. Ibid., Pleyare, þat alwey wyl pley, ludibundus. 1552 Huloet, Player at all games, pastymes, and sportes, ludio. 1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. i. 113 You are Pictures out of doore..Wilde-Cats in your Kitchens..Players in your Huswiferie. 1755 Johnson, Player, an idler; a lazy person. Mod. A player at farming. |
2. a. One who engages in some game, usually specified in the context,
e.g. chess, draughts, cards, tennis; one who is practised or skilful in some game.
| c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1232 Well he shalbe taught As a pleyer [? at chess] shuld to drawe another draught. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 404/2 Pleyar, at the bal, pililudius. a 1500 MS. Ashm. 344 (Bodl.) lf. 20 b, If ye be a great plaier [at chess] & can well defende your game. 1562 J. Rowbotham Cheasts A iij, The by standers (whiche commonlye see more then the plaiers). 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 180 Let us doe as Players at Tennis, be judged by all the lookers on. 1778 C. Jones Hoyle's Games Impr. 25 Suppose I play the Ace of a Suit of which I have Ace, King, and three small ones; the last Player does not chuse to trump it, having none of the Suit. 1867 Rugby School Football Laws 19 Any player obtaining a ball in a maul, must have it down as soon as possible. |
b. One who plays for stakes; a gambler.
| 1483 [see play v. 21]. 1511 Churche of Yuell Men (Pynson) B vj, Oft my players shall say, by the deth such one was a nimble player, for when he came to the play he had but .v.s. & wan .x.s. c 1515 Cocke Lorell's B. (Percy Soc.) 11 Gardeners, and rake fetters; Players, purse cutters, money baterers. 1755 Johnson, Players..a gamester. |
c. A professional player (at cricket, golf, etc.). Also
transf.| 1806, etc. [see gentleman 4 a]. 1884 Lillywhite's Cricket Ann. 29 The two matches between the Gentlemen and Players. 1891 W. G. Grace Cricket 210 Every player selected by the Committee to play against the Gentlemen is paid at the rate of {pstlg}10 per match. 1895 Daily News 1 Aug. 6/2 England has generally the better of Scotland, both in the Amateur and Player [Golf] Championships. 1976 W. Greatorex Crossover 31 Meade..seemed to like having a Player like Calder in among the Gentlemen of the section. 1978 B. Levin in K. Gregory First Cuckoo 12 We are all, gentlemen and players alike, engaged in the business..of expressing our views to thousands, or even millions, of people who have not invited us to do so. 1979 L. Meynell Hooky & Villainous Chauffeur viii. 106 That's how cricket was run in those days; it was gentlemen and players then. |
† 3. One who plays or performs tricks to amuse others: a juggler; an acrobat.
Obs.| c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iv. xlvii. (1869) 199 He maketh of þilke þat pleyen with hem, and doon it, hise principal pleyeres, and hise special jogeloresses. 1530 Palsgr. 255/1 Player or goer upon a corde, batelleur. |
4. One who acts a character on the stage; a dramatic performer, an actor. (In earlier use, one who played in an interlude.)
| 1463–4 Rolls of Parlt. V. 505/2 That..Pleyers in their Enterludes, be not comprised in this Acte. 1466 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 325 And the sonday nexte after the xij. day, I ȝafe to the pleyeres of Stoke, ij. s. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) G viij, Counterfaityng plaiers of farces and mummeries. 1539 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. xii. 240 To y⊇ quenes pleyers for pleyng before y⊇ king this Cristemas iiij li. 1569 Nottingham Rec. IV. 132 A reward gevyn to Ser John' Beron plears. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 140 All the world's a stage, And all the men and women, meerely Players. a 1680 Charnock Self-Exam. Wks. (1849) 175 A player is not a prince, because he acts the part of a prince. 1742 H. Walpole Lett. Mann (1834) I. 146 All the run is now after Garrick, a wine-merchant who is turned player at Goodman's-fields. 1868 Helps Realmah xvii. (1876) 475 Give me some good plays to go to, played by great players. |
5. One who plays on an instrument of music.
| 1463 in Bury Wills (Camden) 18 Y⊇ pleyers at y⊇ orgenys ij d. 1539 Bible (Great) 1 Sam. xvi. 16 A man, that is a connyng player with [Geneva vpon] an harpe. 1608 Willet Hexapla Exod. 198 The singers and players of instruments. 1837 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) XV. 615/1 The safest compass for ordinary players [of the serpent] is the two first of these octaves. |
II. That which plays.
† 6. A metal pendant to a horse's bit.
Obs.| 1598 Florio, Saliuéra,..among riders the plate whereat the players that hang in the mids of a port are fastned. 1607 Markham Caval. vi. (1617) 57 He shall haue Snaffles of all shapes..with small rings in the midst, and sundry sort of small players fastned to those ringes, which to a trauelling horse breedes pleasure. 1611 Cotgr., Babillons, the players that hang to the port of a bitt. |
† 7. pl. The antennæ or palpi of an insect.
Obs.| 1747 Gould Eng. Ants 5 Each Horn [of an Ant's Mouth] has several little Joints, by which means it plays to and fro with great facility... These Players are of particular Use to the Ants both in feeding themselves and also their Young. |
8. Billiards,
Croquet. (See
quot.)
| 1868 W. J. Whitmore Croquet Tact. 9 The term ‘player’ is borrowed from billiards in the game of pool, and means the ball which, after you have finished your break, will play on you. |
9. A record-player.
| 1948 Mod. Plastics Mar. 84 (heading) Unique design of portable player, molded in phenolic, matches polystyrene record carrier. 1953 E. T. Canby Home Music Systems vi. 91 The greatest reason for using a manual player is to achieve better sound quality. 1963 J. Fowles Collector ii. 167 G.P. jumped up and turned off the player. 1968 ‘E. Trevor’ Place for Wicked i. 3 Alec said if music wasn't good enough to listen to without talking it wasn't worth putting on the player. 1976 J. Drummond Funeral Urn xxv. 127 Margot found him..listening to a recording by Led Zeppelin. He switched off the player and beckoned Margot in. |
III. 10. attrib. and
Comb. (chiefly
appositive, in sense 4), as
player-devil,
player-girl,
player-man,
player-woman, etc.; also
player-coach, one who plays a game and also coaches his fellow-players; similarly,
player-manager,
-trainer;
player-like a., like or befitting a player or actor;
player-piano, a piano having a mechanical apparatus by which it can be played automatically.
| 1948 Sporting Mirror 21 May 11/1 Bobby Baxter, former Scottish international and *player-coach to Leith Ath., has been appointed team manager to the Edinburgh speedway team. 1961 Times 12 May 4/7 The decision of the Toulston Club to engage an Argentine as player⁓coach. 1972 J. Mosedale Football ii. 21 Strictly functional equipment modeled by player-coach George Halas. |
| 1596 Lodge Wits Miserie 40 They say likewise there is a *Plaier Deuil, a handsome sonne of Mammons. |
| 1837 H. Ainsworth Crichton I. 197, I can scarce comprehend how a *player-girl like this can occasion him so much trouble. |
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark iv. 24 b, Farre from all manour of *playerlyke ostentation. 1641 Prynne Antip. 123 Pageants, Theaters, Sceans, and Player-like representations, in making a puppet-play. |
| 1675 Wycherley Country Wife ii. i, She chid me just now for liking the *playermen. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 2 Apr., Miss Liddy had like to have run away with a player-man. |
| 1905 Daily Chron. 5 Apr. 7/2 The *player-manager is a rarity. 1951 Sport 16–22 Mar. 3/1 He was..inundated with player-manager offers from non-League sides. 1977 Western Morning News 30 Aug. 12/4 On the eve of Exeter City's glamour second round Football League Cup-tie player-manager Bobby Saxton anxiously waits this morning for the latest fitness reports to know if he can field his strongest side to challenge the might of Cup holders Aston Villa. |
| [1901 Everybody's Mag. Oct. 490/1 In the section devoted to musical instruments one can hear hourly concerts by mechanical piano-players.] 1907 Strand Nov. 103 It..is..the most remarkable achievement in *player-piano construction. Ibid. 105 Melody Stops..distinguish the ‘Autopiano’ from all..player-pianos. 1913 [see music-roll s.v. music n. 13 d]. 1922 S. Grew Art of Player-Piano 1 The player-piano, like the pianoforte and the organ, is a musical instrument. 1946 R. Blesh Shining Trumpets ii. xi. 243 He made an unknown quantity of player-piano rolls. 1973 Times 25 Oct. 38/7 (Advt.), Steinway and Sons..are prepared to purchase or take part exchange pianos of their own or other makes except player pianos. |
| 1956 People 13 May 13/6, I have had several offers to join clubs in Germany as player-coach or *player-trainer. |
______________________________
Add:
[I.] [2.] d. Comm. One who speculates or deals; a participant in a particular market or field. Also
transf. orig. U.S.| 1934 J. T. Flynn Security Speculation i. i. 17 The players have no desire to own stocks; no notion of exercising any of the functions of ownership. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §563/1 Dealer; speculator,..player. 1972 D. Halberstam Best & Brightest 283 David Bell, who was head of AID and who was not regularly a high-level player, said rather casually that there was no point in talking about cutting off commodity aid, he had already cut it off. 1977 South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) 14 Apr. 2/1 Is the speculator any less a ‘player’ because he sold at less frequent intervals than the few who almost lived in stockbroker's offices and bought and sold each hour of the working day? 1986 Economist 14 June 79/1 Other players include the Ford Motor Company, which owns a big thrift and has been talking about selling mortgages through car showrooms. |
[II.] [9.] For
def. read: A record-player; hence, any machine for playing back prerecorded discs or cassettes. (Later examples.)
| 1977 Pop. Sci. Feb. 85/1 They'll..slip the discs into players wired to their receiver's antenna terminals, and push a button to watch the show. 1982 New Yorker 17 May 34/1 ‘Then how come videodisc isn't an all-out threat?’ we asked. ‘Money,’ Mr. Meckler said... ‘Who can afford to buy an eight-hundred dollar player? You?’ 1988 Which? Apr. 186/1 Three players have a multiple disc holder. |