craftsman
(ˈkrɑːftsmən, -æ-)
Forms: 4–6 craftes, craftis man, (4 craftus, craftise man, 5 craftiesman), 5–6 craftis-, craftys-, craftesman, 6–7 craftes-, crafts-man, 6– craftsman.
[Orig. two words in syntactical relation: cf. tradesman.]
1. A man who practices a handicraft; an artificer, artisan.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 218 Alle kunne craftes men. Ibid. vii. 63 Alle kunnes craftus men. 1382 Wyclif 1 Chron. xxii. 15 Many craftise men, masouns and leyers, and craftisemen of trees, and of alle craftis. 1467 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 388 Eny craftiesman, artificer or other. 1549 Compl. Scot. xvii. 150 Ane pure mecanyk craftis man. 1630 R. Johnson's Kindg. & Commw. 133 The Merchant liveth obscurely, the Tradesman penuriously, and the Craftsman in drudgerie. 1742 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. IV. 544 The Craftsmen have proclaimed aloud that their privileges were in Danger. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iii. §43 The commonest fisherman or craftsman who was a hearer of the Apostles. |
2. transf. and fig. † a. Maker, artificer, inventor, contriver. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Wisd. xiii. 1 Thei..ne..knewen who was craftis man. 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. 299 The kynge sayd..in game, ‘I am a wonder craftesman, for I haue made a newe erle of an olde bysshop’. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. 122 Such a presence of Christ in the Sacrament, as the craftesmen of the Court of Rome haue fayned. |
b. = artist 7.
| 1876 Morris Sigurd iii. 224 A picture deftly painted by the craftsmen over the sea. 1877 Dowden Shaks. Prim. v. 58 Shakespere was learning his trade as a dramatic craftsman. |
c. A private soldier in the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
| 1942 Times 1 Sept. 2/3 The R.E.M.E. tradesman in the ranks will be given the new title of ‘craftsman’. 1958 REME Mag. Mar. 73/1 Craftsmen attend Cadre Classes and, if they pass, obtain Chevrons and eventually become Corporals. |
3. Comb., as craftsmanlike adj.
| 1881 Academy 11 June 433 Craftsmanlike skill. |