tradespeoplen.
/ˈtreɪdzˌpiːpl/, U.S. /ˈtreɪdzˌpipəl/ With plural agreement. In later use as a gender-neutral alternative to tradesmen; cf. tradesperson n.
1. People engaged in trading or the sale of goods and commodities, typically on a relatively small scale; esp. shopkeepers.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > [noun] > professional > collectively
tradespeoplea1652
tradesfolk1716
tradesmanship1817
a1652 R. Brome Court Begger ii. i. sig. O6v, in Five New Playes (1653) The poore Trades people that cry their wares about the streets.
1728 C. Cibber Vanbrugh's Provok'd Husband v. ii. 83 Those Trades-people are the troublesomest Creatures! no Words will satisfy them!
1739 tr. N. Dutot Polit. Refl. upon Finances & Commerce of France iii. 272 Such talents..may serve to make Booksellers and other tradespeople live.
1819 Times 14 Apr. 1/5 The village..is well provided with tradespeople of every description.
a1862 H. T. Buckle Misc. Wks. (1872) I. 579 The middle class of tradespeople were ignorant and poor.
1918 C. Seymour & D. P. Frary How World Votes vi. 126 The screws were..put upon the tradespeople in such a way as to force them to respect their customers' political affiliations.
1950 W. H. Chaloner Social & Econ. Devel. Crewe, 1780–1923 iv. 87 By 1872 the tradespeople of Crewe began to complain that ‘female hands’ could scarcely be got.
2011 B. E. Harcourt Illusion of Free Markets ii. 73 There were additional sets of rules for bakers, merchants, and other tradespeople.
2. People engaged in a trade or skilled manual occupation; artisans, craftspeople.In early use difficult to distinguish from sense 1, owing to the use of trade to denote a mercantile as well as a manual occupation: see trade n. 6a.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > [noun] > manual worker > skilled worker or craftsman > collectively
craft1384
omnigatherum1603
tradespeople1659
tradesfolk1716
craftspeople1857
1659 T. Bateson tr. J. Schröder Ζωολογια ii. 65 Husband-men, and Trades-People [L. Agricolas, Mechanicos et Quaestuarios] from England, who are payed much dearer for their work and labour than the Irish are.
1795 Statist. Acct. Scotl. XI. 453 Trades people, such as weavers, shoemakers, &c.
1813 Monthly Mag. Aug. 21/1 The old-fashioned Act..which compels all tradespeople to employ, to every three apprentices, one journeyman.
1885 G. F. Dillon War of Antichrist with Church & Christian Civilization iv. 20 They [sc. masons] differed from other tradespeople.
1907 System Mar. (Advertising section) We employ more than two hundred skilled tradespeople to produce The Outing Magazine.
1991 Financial Rev. (Sydney) 4 Nov. 14/4 It's like a house being renovated. A seemingly endless stream of tradespeople going back and forth.
2013 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 25 Aug. (Review section) 7/2 We expect to see growing employment among the ranks of the ‘new artisans’:..kitchen designers, construction supervisors and skilled tradespeople of every variety.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1652