▪ I. woodman1
(ˈwʊdmən)
Pl. woodmen.
Forms and etym.: see wood n.1 and man n.1 (Cf. woodsman.)
The meaning in the following is uncertain:—972 in Birch Cartul. Sax. III. 603 Fram hwitingho to wudemannes tune. 1275 Rot. Hundr. II. 19 Johanni Wodeman.
1. One who hunts game in a wood or forest; a huntsman. Obs. or arch.
| c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xxxiii, As of þe manere howe he shulde be vndo y passe ouere lightly, for þer is no wodemann nor good hunter in Inglonde, but þei cann do it wele ynowgh. 1555 Instit. Gentl. H v, Ther is a saying emonge hunters that he cannot be a gentleman which loueth not hawkyng and hunting, whiche I haue heard olde woodmen wel allowe. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 30 Am I a Woodman, ha? Speake I like Herne the Hunter? 1616 Boys Expos. Proper Ps. xlvii. 9 Wks. (1629) 935 Woodmen say that Deere are most circumspect in fat pasture. 1676 Shadwell Virtuoso iii, I have taken more Pains to single you out, than ever Wood-man did for a Deer. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. vi. vii, Conrad..Was by a wood⁓man's lyme-dog found. [1835 W. Irving Tour Prairies xi. 85 He looked down with contempt upon the rangers, as..inexperienced woodmen, but little skilled in hunting lore.] |
b. fig. or allusively.
| 1590 Greene Never too late (1600) 47 He was not..so ill a Woodman to giue ouer the chace at the first default. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. iii. 170. 1618 Fletcher Chances i. ix, I see ye are a wood-man, and can chuse Your dear. 1673 Dryden Marr. à la Mode ii. i. 18 Has the old Cupid, your Father, chosen well for you? is he a good Woodman? |
2. One who looks after the trees in a wood or forest; one who fells or lops trees for timber or fuel; also, one who provides or purveys wood.
| 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 17745 Her ys a woode off lytel prys, Wych a woodeman selleth me. 1530 Palsgr. 289/2 Wodman that lyveth by fellyng wode, bocquillon. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 519/2 Dendrophori,..woodemen or such as carrie wood about streetes to be sold. 1634 Milton Comus 484 Either som one like us night-founder'd here, Or els som neighbour Wood-man. 1726 J. Laurence New Syst. Agric. 229 Of the Aspen Tree our Woodmen make Hoops, Firewood, and Coals. 1800 Campbell Beech-Tree's Petition 2 Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree. 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. II. vii. 83 Bonsall and Petersen are now woodmen, preparing our daily fuel. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. vii. (ed. 2) 250 Each half company providing 2 woodmen, 2 watermen. 1903 M. S. Rawson Apprentice 141 The oldest woodmen say that it takes a hundred years to grow a perfect oak for an English ship. |
† 3. A forester having charge of the king's woods.
| 1594 Crompton Jurisd. 146 b, Auant que sera perfect Forest, le Roy couient appointer certaine officers, come vn keeper, Forester, Woodmen, Regarders, Agistors. 1604 J. Manwood Lawes Forest xxi. (1615) 193 The foresters & woodmen did take no good regard to the forests. |
† 4. An inhabitant of the woods, a wild man, a savage; a person representing one in a pageant, or a figure of one in heraldry: = woodwose. Obs.
| 1442 Extr. Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 9 The fleschowares sal fynd [for a play], twa or four wodmen. 1566 in J. Nicholl Comp. Ironmongers (1866) 85 They shall fynde us two wood⁓men, w{supt} clubbes, squibbes and powder. 1601 in Moryson Itin. ii. (1617) 106 To march..into Colrane..to have brought into subjection all the woodmen. 1660 J. Tatham Royal Oake 10 Several persons in the habit of Wood-men and Wood-Nymphs. 1780 Edmondson Heraldry II. Gloss., Woodman, a name given by several Writers to the wild man, or savage. |
5. A workman who makes something of wood, esp. the woodwork of a carriage.
| 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 175/1 When the body is finished from the hands of the woodman, it passes into the hands of the currier. 1908 Advt., Wanted Coach Builders and Wheelwrights.—Good woodman. |
Hence ˈwoodman(s)craft, ˈwoodmanship, the business or skill of a woodman; † ˈwoodmanlike, † ˈwoodmanly advs., in the manner of or befitting a woodman.
| c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xxxiii, If þe lorde will haue þe deere vndone, he þat he biddeth..shulde vndo hym þe moste wodemanly and clenly þat he cann. And wondreth ye nought, þough y say wodmanly, for it is a poynte of wodemancrafte. 1479 [see woodsale]. 1575 Gascoigne Hearbes 156 Gascoignes woodmanship written to the L. Grey of Wilton. 1627 J. Taylor (Water P.) Armado Ep. Ded. A 3 b, You know what belongs to the Wood-manship, the Wardship, and Stewardship. a 1650 Marr. Sir Gawaine in Furniv. & Hales Percy Folio I. 106 The kyng in hys hand toke a bowe, And wodmanly he stowpy'd lowe. 1831 Scott Ct. Rob. xxix, It were bad woodmanship to raise the hollo upon the game, ere it had been driven within compass of the nets. 1881 Sat. Rev. 23 July 122/1 Colonel Fraser's political sagacity hardly seems on a par with his woodmanscraft. 1911 A. C. Benson Ruskin v. 180 He was fond of woodmanship. His..hedging-gloves and his chopper were very characteristic signs of his presence. |
▪ II. † ˈwoodman2 Obs.
Forms and etym.: see wood a. and man n.1
A madman, lunatic, maniac.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3338 Hii verde as wodemen; hii wende hii were ynome. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xi. (Symon & Iudas) 412 Wodmen..In quhame þe feyndis þan can dwel. Ibid. xix. (Cristofore) 285 Þe Iugis,..Fore a wodman demyt hym. c 1400 Beryn 1351 He trampelid fast with his feet, & al to-tare his ere And his visage both, ryȝt as a woodman. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. xii. 432 Cryenge and rateynge hym as a wood man. 1512 J. Parfre Candlemas-Day in Marriott Miracle-Plays (1838) 200 Like as a wodman he gan to fray. |