Clother

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who manufactures or trades in cloth and textile materials
2. Someone engaged in the production or commercial distribution of fabric
3. A merchant or craftsperson who deals in cloth and woven goods

Etymology: "Clother" is an agent-style variant of "clothe," but it is not a standard modern English word in the dictionary sense of a person who clothes others. The verb "clothe" itself has a plain history: it comes from Old English "clāþian," a derivative of "clāþ," meaning cloth or garment, and the noun "cloth" and the verb "clothe" have descended from the same root. Over time English speakers came to use "clothes" as the plural of "cloth" for garments, a shift that made the noun and verb feel more distinct. "Clother" appears in English as a rare or archaic form, and its earliest uses are not something I can date with confidence. Because the suffix "-er" simply marks a person or thing that performs an action, "clother" would mean someone who clothes, such as a supplier of garments, though the word has never been common enough to form a settled sense in standard dictionaries.

Synonyms: tailor, clothier, dressmaker