cordwainer

views updated May 29 2018

cordwainer shoemaker. orig. maker of Cordovan leather. XI. — AN. cordewaner, OF. cordoanier (mod. cordonnier), f. cordewan, cordoan, f. Cordoue — Sp. Cordoba, †Cordova :- L. Corduba town in Spain where a goatskin (later, horsehide) leather was made. The Sp. adj. †cordovano and sb. †cordovān were adopted in Eng. as CORDOVAN.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

cordwainer

views updated May 11 2018

cordwainer a shoemaker (still used in the names of guilds); the word is recorded from Middle English, and comes ultimately from Old French cordewan ‘of Cordoba’ (see cordovan).

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES

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