peddler
UK /ˈpɛdlə/ · US /ˈpɛdlɚ/ noun
Forms peddlers pedlar pedler
- noun An itinerant seller of small goods.
- noun A drug dealer.
- noun (figurative) A fake-news disseminator; A conspiracy-theory propagator.
Synonyms
hawker chapman huckster monger colporteur solicitor pedlar packman pitchman pusher drug peddler drug dealer drug trafficker
Etymology
From Middle English pedlere, pedlare, pedeler, alteration of Middle English peddere (“hawker, peddler”), of uncertain origin. Compare Medieval Latin pedārius, from Latin pedāre (“to furnish with feet; prop up”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun One who peddles; a traveling trader; one who travels about, retailing small wares; a hawker. [Written also pedlar and pedler.]
Etymology [OE. pedlere, pedlare, also peddare, peoddare, fr. OE. ped a basket, of unknown origin.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “peddler”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details