Etymology: < Anglo-Norman celer, celere, celir, ciler, seler, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French celier (Middle French, French cellier ) storehouse or storeroom (especially for wine) located either above or below ground level (beginning of the 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman) and its etymon classical Latin cellārium storeroom, in post-classical Latin also storeroom for wine (8th cent.), use as noun of neuter of cellārius of or connected with a storeroom < cella cell n.¹ + -ārius -ar suffix². Compare Old Occitan celer, celier (c1150; Occitan celièr), Catalan celler (a1075 as †celer), Spanish cillero (second half of the 11th cent. as †cellero), Portuguese celeiro (1032 as †celleiro), Italian cellario (end of the 13th cent.), †cellaio (a1380), celliere (a1292, via French). The Latin word was also borrowed into other Germanic languages at an early date; compare Old Dutch kelleri (Middle Dutch kelre, kelder, Dutch kelder), Old Saxon kellari (Middle Low German keller), Old High German kellari, keller (Middle High German keller, German Keller), Old Icelandic kellari, kjallari, Old Swedish, Swedish källare, Old Danish kæller (Danish kælder).In early use, in both French and English, it is often difficult to tell whether the storeroom in question is located above or below ground; in the latter case, in French the word often occurs in phrases which specify the sense, as celer sos tere , celier sus terre ‘cellar under earth’, celier en sus ‘cellar down below’ (all 13th cent. or earlier; compare early uses at senses 1a and 2a). In sense 2, Cotgrave (1611) uses cellar to gloss French cave (see cave n.¹; this is now the more usual French word), and Minsheu 1617 gives as its equivalents French cave and Latin hypogaeum hypogeum n. In sense 3 after salt cellar n. (see discussion at that entry, and compare saler n.). In sense 4 apparently by confusion with sollar n.¹; compare post-classical Latin selarium (1286 in a British source), variant of classical Latin sōlārium , and Anglo-Norman seler , (undated) variant of soler sollar n.¹

Etymology: Apparently < classical Latin cellārius keeper of a larder, butler, storekeeper, use as noun of masculine of cellārius of or connected with a storeroom (see cellar n.¹). Compare earlier cellarer n. and the foreign-language parallels cited at that entry.Earlier currency of the word is perhaps implied by the following uses in surnames (although both instances could alternatively be interpreted as showing either an otherwise unattested Anglo-Norman noun < classical Latin cellārius , or spellings for seler seller n.²; quot. c1200 might even show a variant spelling of the Anglo-Norman etymon of seller n.²):c1200 in J. T. Gilbert Hist. & Munic. Documents Ireland (1870) 45 Marcus le celer.1297 in Discovery (1921) 2 3 Walter le celeresman. A feminine noun celere ‘cellaress’ is occasionally attested in Anglo-Norman (c1240), but is unlikely to be involved in the transmission of the English word, as the instances in the quots. all denote male cellarers. With the form cellor compare -or suffix.

Etymology: < cellar n.¹ With sense 2 compare German kellern (Middle High German kelren; now usually (with prefix) einkellern).