housewright

English

noun
Definitions
  • A person who builds and repairs houses, especially wooden houses. Particularly, in eighteenth-century colonial America, a craftsman who cut timber (like a lumberjack) in the quantity required for the construction of a house, then sawed it into planks, and finally jointed and assembled them (like a carpenter).

Etymology

Compound from English house (a house, company) + English wright (builder, craftsman).

Origin

English

wright

Gloss

builder, craftsman

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms