Etymologically
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chandler

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈt͡ʃændlɚ/, /ˈt͡ʃɑːndlɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English chaundeler, also chandeler,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman chandeler,[2][4][5] a form of chandelier (“candle-maker, candle-seller”),[6][7] formed on chandelle (“candle”), the source of chandelier.[8][9][10] Behind it lie candelarius (“a candle-maker”) and candēla (“candle”).[6][2][11] Etymonline notes that a native compound of candle and man with the same meaning is attested from about 1400.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A maker or seller of candles: the OED's first quotation is from the English Gilds of 1389,[2] and Barnhart cites the surname Shaundeler from 1332;[4] Etymonline finds the surname in the late 13th century.[6] From 1398 to 1733 chandler could also mean a candlestick, chiefly in the north.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In a large household the chandler was also the officer in charge of candles (a1475–1860).[2] From the 16th century the word came to mean a retail dealer in provisions and small goods, often with some contempt,[2][9] and it then lost its link with candles in compounds such as corn-chandler and ship chandler, where it means simply a dealer.[11][12] Collins records the general sense of a grocer as obsolete in Britain.[10] Johnson (1755) still defined it as a maker or seller of candles, quoting Henry IV.[13] Meanwhile French replaced the candlestick sense with chandelier, which English borrowed again.[12] Wright found chandler still meaning a candlestick in older Scottish and Yorkshire use.[14]

Timeline

  • 1332 – the surname Shaundeler.[4]
  • 1389 – a maker or seller of candles.[2]
  • 1398–1733 – a candlestick.[2]
  • a1475 – the household officer in charge of candles.[2]
  • 1583 – a retail dealer in provisions.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A dealer in supplies and equipment of a particular kind, especially a ship chandler who sells goods for ships and boats: He bought new rope at the chandler on the harbour front.
  2. A person who makes or sells candles.
  3. (Britain, obsolete) A retailer of groceries and provisions; a shopkeeper.

Word family

  • chandlery

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  11. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)