▪ I. crofter1
(ˈkrɒftə(r))
Also Sc. crafter.
[f. croft n.1 + -er1. In Gael. croitear, from Eng.]
One who rents and cultivates a croft or small holding; esp. in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, one of the joint tenants of a divided farm (who often combines the tillage of a small croft with fishing or other vocation).
| 1799 Marshall in J. Robertson Agric. Perth 353 Every man, whether farmer, crafter, cotter or villager. 1811 G. S. Keith Agric. Surv. Aberd. Prel. Obs. 14 There cannot be..too few large crofters, who hold their grounds of the farmers. 1862 Shirley Nugæ Crit. i. 34 Flat, dreary, up⁓lying moors, with the thatched cottage of the crofter, and his scanty patch of cultivation. 1880 Macm. Mag. No. 245. 410 The crofter with his few acres well cultivated, produces a larger yield per acre than the large farmer. |
| attrib. 1848 3rd Rep. Relief of Destit. Highlands 68 The state and condition of the Crofter population of Sutherland Proper. |
Hence ˈcrofterdom nonce-wd.
| 1873 Blackw. Mag. July 100/2 One dead level of crofterdom. |
▪ II. ˈcrofter2
[f. croft v.]
One who crofts or bleaches linen on the grass.
| 1772 Manchester Directory 53 Alphabetical list of the Crofters or Whitsters. |