carpenter

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word carpenter. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word carpenter, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say carpenter in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word carpenter you have here. The definition of the word carpenter will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofcarpenter, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: Carpenter

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English carpenter, from Anglo-Norman carpenter (compare Old French charpentier), from Late Latin carpentārius (a carpenter), from Latin carpentārius (a wagon-maker, carriage-maker), from Latin carpentum (a two-wheeled carriage, coach, or chariot, a cart), from Gaulish carbantos, from Proto-Celtic *karbantos (chariot, war chariot), probably related to Proto-Celtic *karros (wagon). Doublet of carpintero. More at car.

Displaced native Old English trēowwyrhta (literally tree worker).

Pronunciation

Noun

carpenter (plural carpenters)

  1. A person skilled at carpentry, the trade of cutting and joining timber in order to construct buildings or other structures.
  2. (nautical) A senior rating in ships responsible for all the woodwork onboard; in the days of sail, a warrant officer responsible for the hull, masts, spars and boats of a ship, and whose responsibility was to sound the well to see if the ship was making water.
  3. A two-wheeled carriage.
  4. (zoology) A carpenter bee.
    • 1968, Elliot C. G. Pinhey, Introduction to insect study in Africa, page 146:
      The large, stout African bees are carpenters (Xylocopa), making small tunnels in timber, housing few individuals.
  5. (Canada, British, regional) A woodlouse.
    • 2015, A.D. Barber, “Vernacular names of woodlice with particular reference to Devonshire”, in Bulletin of the British Myriapod & Isopod Group, page 58:
      Eleven names in Laver’s table (just over 6%) are of the “carpenter” type, a name for woodlice also recorded in Shropshire and Warwickshire. [] Apparently a Newfoundland word for woodlouse is “carpenter” or “cafner” (another is also “boat-builder”). These names clearly relate to the animals’ affinity to wood as will “carpenter’s flea”, “wood-pig”, “wood-bug”, “grampus wood-bug” and, of course “woodlouse”.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

carpenter (third-person singular simple present carpenters, present participle carpentering, simple past and past participle carpentered)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To work as a carpenter, cutting and joining timber.
    Synonym: (rare) carpent

Further reading

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman carpenter (compare Old French charpentier), from Late Latin carpentārius.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /karpɛnˈteːr/, /ˈkarpɛntər/

Noun

carpenter (plural carpenteres)

  1. carpenter

Descendants

  • English: carpenter
  • Scots: carpenter

References

Old French

Noun

carpenter oblique singularm (oblique plural carpenters, nominative singular carpenters, nominative plural carpenter)

  1. Alternative form of charpantier
    • c. 1155, Wace, Le Roman de Brut:
      Maçons fist querre et carpenters
      Si fist refaire les mousters
      He searched for masons and carpenters
      in order to rebuild the minsters.