journeyman

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English journeiman, also journeman and journaman,^[2][3][4] formed from Middle English journei + man.^[2][3][5] The first part is journey in its obsolete sense "a day's work", which kept the original meaning of the word, "a day";^[5][6][7][8] the journeyman was so called because he was paid by the day, no longer being bound by indentures.^[8][9] Journey is from Old French jornee (“a day's length, a day's work or travel”),^[6] from Vulgar Latin *diurnum (“day”), from diurnus (“of one day”), from diēs (“day”).^[6] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from the early 12th century in senses that included a day, a day's journey and a day's work.^[10] Man is from Old English mann.^[6] Johnson (1755) derived the word from French journée (“a day's work”) and man.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A workman who has served his apprenticeship in a trade and works for a master for daily wages: the Middle English Dictionary's first example is from 1414, and in 1417 a York ordinance speaks of a master girdler taking on a journaman.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century,^[6] while the OED's first quotation is from the Rolls of Parliament of 1463–4.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The journeyman stood between the apprentice and the master.^[6][12] Johnson (1755) defined him as a hired workman and quoted Cowell, who wrote that journeymen were those who worked with others by the day, though by statute the name had been extended to those who agreed to work for another by the year.^[11] A disparaging figurative use, for someone who is not a master of his trade or who drudges for another, a hireling, is recorded from 1548, in Hall's chronicle;^[5][6] Johnson quotes Hamlet's complaint that "some of nature's journeymen had made men, and not made them well".^[11] The word also came to mean an experienced, reliable but undistinguished worker or performer in any field, often used attributively, as in journeyman work.^[12][13][14] From 1765 astronomers called a secondary clock used to compare standard clocks a journeyman clock; from 1904 the word was also used of the dial clocks of an electric time circuit.^[5][15] In London slang of the mid-19th century a journeyman parson was a curate.^[16] The Middle English Dictionary also records the word as a surname from 1447,^[2] and Etymonline notes the American colloquial shortening jour, recorded from 1835.^[6]

Timeline

• 1414 – a qualified workman who works for a master for daily wages.^[2] The OED's first quotation is from 1463–4.^[5]
• late 15th century – used attributively, as an adjective.^[6]
• 1548 – figuratively and disparagingly, one who is not a master of his trade; a drudge or hireling.^[5][6]
• 1765 – in astronomy, a secondary clock in an observatory (journeyman clock).^[5]
• 1904 – a clock controlled by the master clock of an electric time circuit.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A worker who has finished an apprenticeship in a trade or craft and is qualified to work for another, as distinguished from an apprentice and a master.^{[14][13][12][7][5]}
2. An experienced and reliable but undistinguished worker, athlete or performer; often used attributively: a journeyman pitcher who played for six clubs.^{[14][13][12][7]}
3. Formerly, a worker hired by the day.^[7][5]
4. (astronomy) A secondary clock in an observatory, used in comparing standard clocks; also called a journeyman clock.^[5][15]
5. (derogatory) A person who is not a master of his or her trade; a hireling or drudge.^[5][15]

Related words

• journey
• man
• diurnal

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
14. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
15. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
16. ^ 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)