Cordewaner

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A craftsperson who makes or works with shoes, especially those fashioned from cordovan leather
2. An artisan specializing in the manufacture of footwear, particularly using the fine leather known as cordovan
3. A shoemaker who works primarily with cordovan, a soft leather traditionally used for quality shoes

Etymology: Cordwainer is an old English word for a shoemaker, and it survives mostly in the name of the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers, the London livery guild of shoemakers. Its story begins with a place rather than a trade. "Cordwan" was the Middle English name for a fine leather, originally goatskin tanned with a special process, and it came from Old French "cordouan," from Spanish "cordobán," named after Córdoba in Spain, which was famous for this leather. The "cordwainer" was the worker who made shoes from it, and over time the Old French form also gave English "cordovan," the name still used for a deep reddish-brown leather. The word "cordwainer" is itself a spelling that drifted from the original. Medieval writers used forms like "cordwan" and "cordwaner," and the spelling "cordwainer" settled in later, partly through association with the trade's own name. Most people now recognize the word only from old guild records, historical novels, and the occasional shoemaker's sign.

Synonyms: shoemaker, cobbler