DisputedOrigin is disputed
hackney writer
noun · first attested 17th century
The hack in hack writer started out as a horse from a London parish.
A writer who produces work to order for whoever is paying.
37.1742°N -97.0311°W · Q5637337
Record
- Relationship
- Origin is disputed
- Confidence
- DisputedCompeting explanations remain live.
- Attested
- 17th century
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Hackney
- In English
hackney writer
Hackney, then pasture on the edge of London, is the usual source given for hackney meaning a horse let out for hire, which passed to anything worn out in someone else's service and shortened to hack. A rival account derives the word from Old French haquenee, and the two explanations have never been cleanly separated.
Also pinned to Hackney
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