noun
Chapman
CHAP-muhn
noun
1
An old-fashioned word for a trader or merchant, especially one who travelled from place to place selling goods.
"A century ago, a chapman might have gone door to door selling pins, ribbons, and almanacs."
"The village chapman carried his wares in a pack on his back."
2
A buyer or customer.
"The old contract still uses "chapman" to mean the party purchasing the goods."
How to Use Chapman
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAn old term, now mostly historical, for a travelling merchant or pedlar.
Common mistake
Rarely used in everyday modern speech outside historical writing — most people today only encounter it as a surname.
Word Forms
chapmen plural
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A century ago, a _____ might have gone door to door selling pins, ribbons, and almanacs.
Etymology
From Middle English chapman ("trader"), a compound of cheap (in its old sense of "buying and selling," as in Cheapside) and man. It shares this root with the surnames Kaufman and Koopman.