miners
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
Miner is the standard modern word for anyone who works extracting minerals from the ground. Collier and pitman are both old-fashioned terms that refer specifically to coal miners — collier appears in historical writing, while pitman was common in British mining communities through the mid-20th century. Digger is a more casual, informal word that can describe anyone who digs, from a gold prospector to an archaeologist. Unlike miner, digger does not always imply professional underground work. For example, you would say 'The miners went on strike for safer conditions' but 'A few diggers found gold nuggets in the riverbed.'
Common collocations
Nouns
- miners' union
- miners' strike
- group of miners
Etymology
Miner entered English in the 1300s from Old French mineor (modern French mineur), meaning 'one who digs a mine.' This in turn comes from the noun mine, which has roots in Celtic words for 'ore' or 'metal.' The cryptocurrency sense appeared around 2010–2011 with the launch of Bitcoin, borrowing the idea of extracting something valuable through hard work — replacing pickaxes with computer processors.
First known use
12th century
12th century, in the meaning defined above Pronoun