verb
eavesdrop
To listen to a conversation without the speakers' knowledge
Where it comes from
The obsolete noun eavesdrop named the place where water fell from a roof's eaves, or the dripping water itself. Middle English formed eavesdropper for a person who listened secretly from beneath or beside a house's eaves.
How the meaning developed
The verb eavesdrop appeared later as a back-formation from eavesdropper. Its meaning escaped the physical spot: today someone can eavesdrop without standing near a roof or getting wet.
Sources
Definitions adapted from Open English WordNet where applicable. License and attribution. Word-history text comes from Lexifour’s sourced social research; pages are assembled automatically, not individually fact-checked on every update.
Updated 2026-09-25. Report a correction.