Smitherman

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family name of English origin, borne by people such as the linguist Geneva Smitherman, a scholar of African American English
2. An English surname carried by individuals including Geneva Smitherman, a prominent researcher of Black English and dialect
3. A surname of English origin, notable for belonging to the linguist Geneva Smitherman, who studied African American language

Etymology: Smitherman is an English surname, and its story is a plain one: it began as an occupational name for a man who worked alongside a blacksmith. The first part, "smith", comes from Old English "smiþ", meaning a worker in metal, and the second part, "-man", is the ordinary English word for a person. Put together, the name marked someone as a smith's man, the helper who worked the bellows, carried iron, or struck the hammer. The stem comes from Middle English "smithiere", a word for blacksmith. Many English surnames arose this way, recording what a family's ancestor did for a living, so a Smitherman in medieval England was most likely named for the trade that defined him rather than for any particular person or event.