craftsman

Etymology

It is formed from English craft + man, with the first element in the genitive,^[2][3][4] as Middle English craftes man (“man of skill”), from craftes, the genitive singular of the noun.^[5][6] It replaced the earlier craftman, recorded about 1200 in a plural form.^[4][2][6] The OED compares the formation of salesman and tradesman.^[2] The first element goes back to Old English cræft (“power, strength; skill”),^[4] and Old English had cræftiga (“craftsman, workman”) in the same sense, a derivative of cræftig (“crafty”).^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Barnhart dates the word to probably before 1200, in Layamon's Chronicle of Britain,^[7] and Etymonline finds the earlier form, in the plural, about 1200.^[4] The OED's first record of craftsman itself is in the Wycliffite Bible, before 1382: a person who practises a skilled trade, an artisan.^[2] Etymonline dates the spelling with -s- to the late 14th century, when the word was also first written as one word.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the first records the word was also used figuratively, of a maker or creator of something.^[2] By about 1529 it was extended to anyone who shows great skill or expertise in an activity,^[2] and in the late 19th century it came to mean a person who practises one of the fine arts.^[3] Johnson (1755) defined it as an artificer, manufacturer or mechanic, quoting Spenser.^[8] In 1942 it became the title of a private soldier in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.^[2][9] The feminine and neutral forms are later: craftspeople from 1856, craftswoman from 1886 and craftsperson from 1904.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – the earlier form craftman, in the plural.^[4] Barnhart dates the word to probably before 1200.^[7]
• before 1382 – a skilled worker in a trade; also figuratively, a maker or creator, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[2]
• late 14th century – written as one word, with -s-.^[4]
• c. 1529 – a person with great skill in any activity.^[2]
• 1856 – craftspeople; 1886 – craftswoman; 1904 – craftsperson.^[4]
• 1942 – a private in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who practises a skilled trade or handicraft, such as a carpenter or stonemason; an artisan.^[10][5][2]
2. A person who makes or performs something with great skill, especially in the manual or fine arts: The bowls were turned by local craftsmen.^[5][10][3]
3. A person who does work of high quality or shows great expertise in any activity.^[5][2]
4. (British) A private soldier in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers; also used as a title.^[2][9][3]

Word family

• craftsmanlike
• craftsmanly
• craftsmanship

Related words

• handicraftsman
• craft
• crafty
• tradesman
• salesman

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins