draper

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English draper, also drapier,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman draper, Old French drapier,^[3][4][5][6] an agent noun from drap (“cloth”) with the suffix -ier.^[4][3][7] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1148, as a surname.^[8] French drap is from Late Latin drappus (“cloth”),^[9][10] which Etymonline thinks is perhaps of Gaulish origin.^[4] The same Latin word is the source of drape, drapery, drab and trappings.^[10][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A maker of woollen cloth: 1362, in Langland's Piers Plowman.^[3][9] Etymonline dates the English word to the late 14th century, the Anglo-Norman word to the mid-14th and the surname to the mid-12th.^[4] The Middle English Dictionary defines it as one who weaves or sells cloth, or both, and records it in an Anglo-Norman petition to Parliament of 1350–51.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant a maker of (woollen) cloth, then a dealer in cloth, and later a dealer in other textile goods as well.^[3][5][9] In Middle English it also served in phrases for the clothiers' guild and the draper's shop, and as a surname.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as one who sells cloth.^[11] In combination it could mean a seller of something else, as in ale-draper, a seller of ale.^[3][12] The word is now chiefly British.^[13][14] A second sense, one who drapes cloth or arranges draperies, is formed anew from drape and -er.^[13] A related verb draper, to weave (1436) and to arrange drapery (1717), is obsolete.^[3]

Timeline

• 1148 – the Anglo-Norman word, as a surname.^[8]
• 1350–51 – in an Anglo-Norman petition to Parliament.^[2]
• 1362 – a maker of woollen cloth.^[3]
• late 14th century – a weaver or seller of cloth.^[4][2]
• 1755 – Johnson: one who sells cloth.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chiefly British) A dealer in cloth and other textiles, and sometimes clothing and sewing materials: She bought the ribbon at the draper's in the high street.^[14][13][3]
2. A person who drapes cloth or arranges draperies, as on a stage set.^[13]
3. (historical) A maker of woollen cloth.^[3][5][2]

Word family

• linen draper

Related words

• drape
• drapery
• drab
• trappings

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster Unabridged also records draper, of unknown origin, for a machine that cleans sugar-beet seed and for the canvas conveyor of a combine harvester.^[13] As a surname, Draper is an occupational name from the same Anglo-Norman word.^[8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins