handcraftyadj.
/ˈhan(d)krɑːfti/, /ˈhan(d)krafti/, U.S. /ˈhæn(d)ˌkræfti/ rare after 16th cent.
Of a person: skilled or employed in manual labour, or in making things by hand. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [adjective] > having practical, operative, or constructive skill
handcrafty1463
artificial1531
artful1607
mechanic1713
1463–5 Rolls of Parl.: Edward IV (Electronic ed.) Parl. Apr. 1463 §22. m. 7 Artificers, handcrafty men and women..been gretely empoverysshed.
a1500 (a1470) Brut (BL Add. 10099) 523 (MED) Þe handcrafty peple of þe town Arose.
1531 Bp. W. Barlow Dyaloge Lutheran Faccyons sig. p I haue hard in Germany greuous complayntes & murmuracions of hande crafty men and artyfycers agaynste relygyous persons.
1564 W. Bullein Dialogue against Fever Pestilence f. 2 Ause I haue many of my sirname here..yea honast handcraftie men.
1581 R. Parsons Discouerie I. Nicols sig. M.ii Making odious comparyson betwixt these studentes of Rome, and the hand-craftye ministers of Englande, whome he disgracethe with the reproche of stitching, and cobling preachers.
1660 De Lawerin Let. 24 Apr. in Coll. State Papers J. Thurloe (1742) VII. 906 There was none elce printed this day, being the great holy-dayes of Easter, the hand-crafty men being at their devotion.
1888 Bangor (Maine) Daily Whig & Courier 29 May I wonder at first why the hand-crafty Chinese..do not shape their boats like our own swift and graceful craft.
1963 Celebrity Reg. (rev. ed.) 142/2 The shy, hand-crafty (he makes jewelry), botany-loving (‘I watch things’) Milquetoast-type.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1463