A chapman (plural ''chapmen'') was an
itinerant dealer or hawker in
early modern Britain
Early modern Britain is the history of the island of Great Britain roughly corresponding to the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Major historical events in early modern British history include numerous wars, especially with France, along with the ...
.
Etymology
Old English ''céapmann'' was the regular term for "dealer, seller", cognate with the Dutch ''koopman'' and German ''
Kaufmann'' with the same meaning.
Old English ''céap'' meant "deal, barter, business". The modern adjective ''cheap'' is a comparatively recent development from the phrase ''a good cheap'', literally "a good deal" (cf. modern Dutch ''goedkoop'' = cheap).
The word also appears in names such as
Cheapside
Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, England, which forms part of the A40 road, A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St Martin's Le Grand with Poultry, London, Poultry. Near its eas ...
,
Eastcheap
Eastcheap is a street in central London that is a western continuation of Great Tower Street towards Monument junction. Its name derives from ''cheap'', the Old English word for marketplace, market, with the prefix 'East' distinguishing it from ...
, Chepstow and the prefix
Chipping: all markets or dealing places. The name of the Danish capital
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
has a similar origin, being derived from ''Køpmannæhafn'', meaning "merchants' harbour" or "buyer's haven".
By 1600, the word ''chapman'' had come to be applied to an itinerant dealer in particular, but it remained in use for "customer, buyer" as well as "merchant" in the 17th and 18th centuries. The slang term for man, "chap" arose from the use of the abbreviated word to mean a customer, one with whom to bargain.
The word was applied to hawkers of
chapbook
A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...
s,
broadside ballads
A broadside (also known as a broadsheet) is a single sheet of inexpensive paper printed on one side, often with a ballad, rhyme, news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations. They were one of the most common forms of printed material between the ...
, and similar items.
Their stock in trade provides a graphic insight into the methods of political and religious campaigners of the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
period, for example.
Chapman is also a common personal name of the class derived from trades.
See also
*
People
The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
with the name Chapman
*
Places and things named Chapman
References
*Oxford English Dictionary.
External links
An example of the use of the word in 1739
Obsolete occupations
Sales occupations
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