Loiner Explained

Loiner is a demonym, describing the citizens of Leeds.

The Rugby league club Leeds Rhinos were previously nicknamed the Loiners.^[1]

History

While there are several theories, the actual origin of the term remains uncertain.

The three competing theories are:

• Loiner could derive from the name Loidis (in use by the eighth century for the district around modern-day Leeds).^[2]
• Another explanation says that in the 19th century there were many yards and closes around Briggate whose back entrances were known as Low Ins or Loins, hence Loiner.
• A third theory is that, in the area of Briggate, locals referred to numerous nearby streets as 'loins’, as a Leeds cognate for the Standard English word 'lanes'. People who gathered in these loins to gossip were therefore termed Loiners.^[3]

Dialect

The term Leeds Loiner was included by Joseph Wright, a native of nearby Windhill and Wrose, in the English Dialect Dictionary. The definition was "An inhabitant of Leeds". The entry suggests that the origin is linked to Marsh Lane in Leeds.^[4]

Notes and References

1. News: Leeds Rhinos Flashback: Loiners come back from the dead to beat Saints and retain the Cup. Yorkshire Evening Post. Peter. Smith. 11 May 2015.
2. Web site: LEEDS AND WEST YORKSHIRE. www.englandsnortheast.co.uk. 12 November 2018.
3. Web site: Loiners of the world unite!. BBC voices2005. 24 September 2014. 12 November 2018.
4. Wright, Joseph (1902), The English Dialect Dictionary, being the complete vocabulary of all dialect words still in use, or known to have been in use during the last two hundred years; founded on the publications of the English Dialect Society and on a large amount of material never before printed, Volume 3 H-L