maker
(ˈmeɪkə(r))
Also (4 makiere, -yere), 4–5 macare, makare, -ere, 4–6 makar, (6 Sc. mackar, makkar, makker).
[f. make v.1 + -er1.]
1. One who fashions, constructs, prepares for use, or manufactures; a manufacturer, spec. in certain trades (see, e.g., quot. 1892).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 11036 Hijs lauerd he kneu welwel biforn Þat he was of his moder born [cf. Luke i. 41],..Þe maker kneu his hand-werc. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus i. 685 (741) It is seyd man maketh ofte a yerde With which þe makere is hym self beten. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxiii. (George) 403 Þi godis..ar mad bot of handis of men..þar makaris noþir gifand na hele. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 319/1 Macare, factor, plasmator. 1511–2 Act 3 Hen. VIII, c. 6 §3 The maker merchaunt or byer of eny wollen clothes called Bastardes. 1530 Palsgr. 242/1 Maker of haye to cockes. Ibid., Maker of naylles. 1550 Latimer Last Serm. bef. Edw. VI (1562) 129 They be bothe Woodmongers and makers of cooles. 1611 Bible Isa. xlv. 16 Makers of idoles. 1672 Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) 65, I valued an Irish Cabbin at the number of days food, which the Maker spent in building of it. 1726 tr. Gregory's Astron. I. 259 The Makers of these Instruments have fitted an Ecliptic to it. 1858 Greener Gunnery 314 The display of artistically constructed guns by the French makers in their Great Exposition of 1855. 1859 Lang Wand. India 384 We procured some honey, which is taken from its makers in a very singular manner. 1873 J. H. Newman Idea University Def. 47 The maker of a bridle or an epaulet. 1892 Labour Commission Gloss., Makers, the workmen who receive the tops and then complete the making of hand-sewn boots and shoes. The term is also applied to those who make the bottom (with the exception of the finishing) of a rivetted or machine-made boot. |
b. with prefixed n., forming many compounds, q.v. under the first element or as Main words.
| 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 685/15 Hic campanarius, a belmaker. Ibid. 686/35 Hic anularius, a ryngmaker. 1502 in Cov. Corp. Chr. Plays (E.E.T.S.) App. ii. 104 The wholl body of the craft of the tylmakers of Stoke. 1696 W. Derham (title) The Artificial Clock-maker. 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4833/3 Tho. Morse,..a Mathematical Instrument-maker. 1902 Daily Chron. 17 Sept. 6/6 The necktie-makers and the artificial-flower-makers. |
2. Qualified by the, a possessive, or an attrib. phr.: Applied to God as the Creator of the universe. (Now with capital M.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 17875 Þis ilke liȝt forsoþe is he þat maker is of lastyng liȝt. 1340 Ayenb. 251 Þe herte..y-ziȝþ hire zelue and hire makiere. Ibid. 262, I leue ine god uader almiȝti makere of heuene and of erþe. c 1400 Destr. Troy Prol. 1 Maistur in mageste, maker of Alle. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 319/1 Macare of noghte, as God only, creator. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 229 Flayt by him self to the Makar off buffe. ? 1507 Communyc. (W. de W.) B ij, I was made to knowe my maker And to loue hym ouer all thynge. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xciv. [xcv.] 6 Let vs knele before the Lorde oure maker. 1599 Sir J. Davies Nosce Teipsum 54 O what is man (great maker of mankind). 1629 Milton Hymn Nativ. ii, Confounded, that her Makers eyes Should look so neer upon her foul deformities. 1718 Watts Hymn i, Nature with open volume stands, To spread her Maker's praise abroad. 1827 Keble Chr. Y., Septuag. iii, The glorious sky embracing all Is like the Maker's love. 1871 Carlyle in Mrs. C.'s Lett. II. 221 Pious to God the Maker and to all He had made. |
† b. to receive one's Maker: to receive the Communion. Hence applied to the consecrated Host in the mass. Obs.
| 1539 T. Pery in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. II. 145 That hys Grace..recewythe hys maker yerlye acording to the lawdebwll usse..of owr holly mother Chwrche. 1634 Malory's Morte Arthur (1816) II. 100 Then he received his Maker [Malory x. lxii. 520 his creatoure]: and, when he was dead [etc.]. 1635 E. Pagitt Christianogr. 51 Henry Stephens writeth of a Dogge, that did eat 80 of their Hoasts, or Makers, in one morning. |
3. One who composes a book, draws up a document, frames a law, or the like.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xvii. 13 Þe haly gast..þat is makere of haly writ. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints x. (Mathou) 566 Makare of þe saltere. 1485 Act 1 Hen. VII, c. 7 The Maker of any such Warrant. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 8 Which acte..is so obscure..that the true entent of the makers therof cannot..be undrestond. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. iii. ix. §1 Lawes for the Church are not made as they should be, vnles the makers follow such direction as they ought to be guided by. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 229 The makers of the act. |
b. with prefixed n. (Cf. 1 b.)
| 1678 Butler Hud. iii. ii. 274 Sp'ritual Affidavit makers. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. xv, Our map-makers..do not agree. 1902 Greenough & Kittredge Words 181 A controlling effect on the action of the early language-makers. |
4. In various immaterial senses: One who brings about or produces a condition, effect, state of mind, etc.; a creator or producer (of); † one who appoints to an office; † a contriver.
| c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 2682, I dar wel swere That Malachias is chief maker With som treason vs to betray. c 1522 Bp. Fox in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. II. 6 The Kyng that was my maker and promotor to the dignytie that I..doo occupye. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 68 You be in deed, makers or marrers, of all mens maners within the Realme. Ibid. 85 The greatest makers of loue, the daylie daliers. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 751 They..perceiuyng that the Castell of Barwicke was the onely maker of the peace. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 205 The maker of the bargaine. a 1625 Sir H. Finch Law (1636) 409 All mainteyners, conspirators, makers of confederacie. 1714 Pope Let. to Mrs. T. Blount Lett. (1737) 133 Her makers of visits and complements. 1858 Longfellow M. Standish ii. 66, I am a maker of war, and not a maker of phrases. 1871 Smiles Charac. i. 22 Great workers and great thinkers are the true makers of history. |
b. with prefixed n. (Cf. 1 b.)
| 1601 Sir W. Cornwallis Disc. Seneca (1631) 56 Death or destiny or any of those period makers. 1719 D'Urfey Pills II. 341 Who dully think all Foreigners Man-makers, Send out their Booby Sons to France, to Dress. 1827 Hone Every-day Bk. II. 12 Drink is..the widow-maker of their wives. 1876 Ouida Winter City ii. 16 The calumny-makers. |
5. A poet. Obs. exc. arch. (Cf. Gr. ποιητής.)
| 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love iii. iv. (Skeat) I. 258 In wit and in good reason of sentence, he [Chaucer] passeth al other makers. c 1400 Beryn 2462, I woll nat feyn oon woord, as makers doon to ryme. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. lxxxiv. 562 There is no maker can reherce the tenthe parte. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems iv. 45, I see that makaris amang the laif Playis heir ther pageant, syne gois to graif. Ibid. liii. 22 Than cam in Dunbar the Mackar [v.r. makker]. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. II. 42/2 Owen Odewhee, a preacher, and a maker in Irish. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 24 Wherein I know not, whether by lucke or wisedome, wee Englishmen haue mette with the Greekes, in calling him a maker. 1756–82 J. Warton Ess. Pope II. 98 Here all is in life and motion; here we behold the true Poet or Maker. 1876 Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly iii. 27 ‘You find your pleasure in reading divine poetry’, said the Maker softly. 1878 Grosart Introd. H. More's Poems 46/1 To reinscribe the venerable name of Henry More among our real Makers and Singers. |
† 6. Cards. (See quot. 1754.) Obs.
| 1753 Scots Mag. XV. 74/2 You'd rather hold—two aces and a maker. 1754 ‘Gyles Smith’ Refl. Card-playing 14 (Brag) Here the Power of the Knave is so great, that he is usually called a Maker. The Meaning is, that, whatever Company he comes into, he is enabled to make himself one of them. He is a Queen, with Queens; a King, with Kings; and an Ace, with Aces. |
7. ‘The person who signs a promissory note’ (Wharton Law Lex. 1848).
8. With an adv.: maker-up, one who ‘makes up’ in various senses (esp. in technical use).
| 1535 Coverdale Isa. lviii. 12 Thou shalt be called the maker vp of hedges. 1846 Trench Mirac. xxix. (1862) 412 A maker-up of the narrative from later and insecure traditions. 1884 W. S. B. Maclaren Spinning Woollen & Worsted 64 One or two men, called ‘makers-up’, are employed for each box to keep drawing the wool through their hands, making it into a kind of ‘lap’. 1891 Daily News 16 Jan. 8/4 Wanted, overseer, in country printing office... Good maker-up. 1892 Labour Commission Gloss. s.v., After the bodies and parts of Britannia metal goods have been shaped..the maker-up puts them together. |
Hence (nonce-wds.) ˈmakeress, a female maker of something (in comb. brick-makeress); ˈmakership, the office of a maker or creator.
| 1857 Househ. Words XVI. 411/2 Brick-makers and brick-makeresses jolting up and down on planks. 1863 F. Hall in Reader 24 Jan. 95 We should much like to know..whether the Magian sage [Zoroaster] seems to have had any idea of Makership apart from a material cause. |
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Add: [2.] [a.] Now freq. in phr. to meet one's Maker, to die; sometimes humorously, (of a thing) to be destroyed.
| 1933 D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise xv. 261 The wretched man had gone to meet his Maker in Farley's Footwear. 1967 in R. D. Abrahams Positively Black (1970) ii. 26 ‘Nigger boy,’ he said to me, ‘how'd you like to meet your maker right now?’ a 1978 TV Times in A. P. Cowie et al. Oxf. Dict. Current Idiomatic Eng. (1983) II. 383/2 As these tired old notes meet their maker in Essex, a new load is on its way into our pockets. 1989 Premiere Dec. 42/4 Nat Maudlin almost met his maker thanks to a rafting expedition. |