fodder

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   food for livestock; also raw material readily used for a purpose

   The scandal provided endless fodder for the tabloid press.

Simplified etymology

Fodder is an Old English word related to food and to foster, whose earliest sense was “feed” or “nourish.” Its figurative use in cannon fodder, for soldiers treated as expendable, dates from the mid-19th century.

From Old English fōdor ('food, fodder'), from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą, from the same root as food, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh2- ('to feed, protect').

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External links

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