Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A dealer in men's furnishings.
  • noun Chiefly British A dealer in sewing notions and small wares.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A dealer in small wares; specifically, a dealer in small articles of dress and in ribbons, trimmings, thread, pins, needles, etc.
  • noun A dealer in hats; a hatter.
  • noun A schoolmaster.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A dealer in small wares, as tapes, pins, needles, and thread.
  • noun A dealer in items of men's clothing, such as hats, gloves, neckties, etc.
  • noun A dealer in drapery goods of various descriptions, as laces, silks, trimmings, etc.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A dealer in ribbons, buttons, thread, needles and similar sewing goods.
  • noun US A men's outfitter, usually a men's haberdasher.
  • noun UK A member of the Haberdashers livery company.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a merchant who sells men's clothing

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, perhaps from Anglo-Norman hapertas, petty wares.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Uncertain but may derive from Anglo-Norman habertas ("small goods")

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Examples

  • From the Trinity House record it appears that Prickett was "a land man put in by the Adventurers"; and in the court records he is described, most incongruously, as a "haberdasher" -- facts which place him, as his own very remarkable narrative places him, on a level much above that of the ordinary seamen of Hudson's time.

    Henry Hudson A Brief Statement of His Aims and His Achievements 1881

  • But, in the times we write of, the hosiers, the glovers, the hatters, the mercers, the milliners, and all who dealt in the miscellaneous wares now termed haberdasher's goods, were to be found in this narrow alley.

    The Heart of Mid-Lothian 1822

  • But, in the times we write of, the hosiers, the glovers, the hatters, the mercers, the milliners, and all who dealt in the miscellaneous wares now termed haberdasher's goods, were to be found in this narrow alley.

    The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Volume 1 Walter Scott 1801

  • But, in the times we write of, the hosiers, the glovers, the hatters, the mercers, the milliners, and all who dealt in the miscellaneous wares now termed haberdasher's goods, were to be found in this narrow alley.

    The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Complete Walter Scott 1801

  • If I were a Democrat, I'd salute Harry S. Truman, the Missouri haberdasher who … whoa, "haberdasher"!

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2008

  • From Mrs. Denyse he had heard the story of the pushing young "haberdasher," and his suspicions identified the newcomer.

    Little Miss Grouch A Narrative Based on the Log of Alexander Forsyth Smith's Maiden Transatlantic Voyage Samuel Hopkins Adams 1914

  • But, in the times we write of, the hosiers, the glovers, the hatters, the mercers, the milliners, and all who dealt in the miscellaneous wares now termed haberdasher’s goods, were to be found in this narrow alley.

    The Heart of Mid-Lothian 2007

  • Out of interest I was looking up the origin and meaning of the word 'haberdasher' and it seems to be a place where men's clothing was sold so I'm not quite sure how I now view it as a place to find sewing notions.

    Brit Lit Blogs 2009

  • Out of interest I was looking up the origin and meaning of the word 'haberdasher' and it seems to be a place where men's clothing was sold so I'm not quite sure how I now view it as a place to find sewing notions.

    dovegreyreader scribbles 2009

  • But when I did that earlier today (not for "haberdasher") I noticed that the usual source,

    Screenwerk 2009

Comments

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  • located in Merriam Webtster's Notebook Dictionary pg 35

    September 25, 2010