drawer

English 'drawer' comes from Middle English drawen, meaning 'to draw' or pull, combined with the agent suffix '-er.' It's attested from the 14th century, with the specific 'sliding box' sense recorded from the 16th century.

Originally the suffix '-er' simply named someone or something that performs an action — a 'drawer' was literally 'that which draws' or is drawn. Over time this general agent noun narrowed to describe the sliding compartment you pull open, alongside its older sense of a person who draws.

It shares its root with the verb 'draw' itself, since 'drawer' is built directly from 'draw' plus the agent suffix '-er.' The French word for the same sliding box, 'tiroir,' offers a nice point of comparison, though it isn't etymologically connected.