Hairdresser

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A practitioner who offers hair-related services such as cutting, styling, and coloring hair for aesthetic purposes
2. A specialist in hair care who provides services like cutting, coloring, and styling to enhance clients’ appearance
3. A person trained to cut, style, and treat hair to improve or change its look

Etymology: The "hair" half of this word is an ancient inheritance: it descends from Proto-Germanic "hērą", which goes back to a Proto-Indo-European root, so English has spoken of hair since its earliest days, as Old English "hǣr". The "dress" half has a much more layered past. It traces back through Old French "drecier" to Vulgar Latin "dīrēctiāre", a verb built on Latin "dīrēctus", meaning "made straight" or "arranged". Its original sense was therefore about setting things in order or making them upright, and only later did it narrow toward clothing and adornment. English picked up "dress" from Middle English "dressen", which came from the same Old French verb, and the final "-er" comes from Old English "-ere", an agent ending that ultimately descends from Latin "-āriius". A "hairdresser" is thus, in its structure, a person who arranges hair, the same sense of setting things straight that the Latin verb carried.

Synonyms: barber, stylist, cosmetologist, groomer, haircutter