cordwainer means A shoemaker. It carries an Arena rating of 1557, earned across 75 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, cordwainer ranks #1,696 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,488 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #3,588 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #3,912 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words.
Why “cordwainer” is a great word
CORDWAINER — [Noun] A maker of fine shoes, originally one who worked with cordovan leather from Córdoba, Spain. From Middle English cordewaner, from Anglo-French cordewaner, from Old French cordoan ("leather of Cordova"), ultimately from Spanish Córdoba, a city in Spain. First attested in the mid-12th century as a surname. Unlike a "cobbler," who historically mended old shoes, or "cordovan," which names the leather or a shoe itself, the cordwainer was the creator of new footwear from pristine hides. It is the scent of sun-warmed, vegetable-tanned leather in a dusty workshop, the precise puncture of an awl through supple hide, and the patient warmth of a candle flame used to wax a thread—the quiet dignity of constructing a vessel meant to carry a person through the world, one deliberate stitch at a time.
Etymology
From Middle English cordewainer, cordewaner, from Anglo-Norman cordewaner, from Old French cordoan (“(leather) of Cordova”). See also cordovan, itself borrowed from Spanish Córdoba.
noun
- A shoemaker.
- A worker in cordwain leather.
- A leather from Córdoba.
- A member of the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers, a livery company.e.g.“For quotations using this term, see Citations:cordwainer.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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