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A chapman (plural ''chapmen'') was an itinerant dealer or hawker in early modern Britain. ==Etymology== Old English ''céapmann'' was the regular term for "dealer, seller", cognate with the Dutch ''koopman'' with the same meaning. Old English ''céap'' meant "deal, barter, business". The modern adjective ''cheap'' is a comparatively recent development from the phrase ''a good cheap'', literally "a good deal" (cf. modern Dutch ''goedkoop'' = cheap). The word also appears in names such as Cheapside, Eastcheap and Chepstow: all markets or dealing places. The name of the Danish capital Copenhagen has a similar origin, being derived from ''Køpmannæhafn'', meaning "merchants' harbour" or "buyer's haven". By 1600, the word ''chapman'' had come to be applied to an itinerant dealer in particular, but it remained in use for "customer, buyer" as well as "merchant" in the 17th and 18th centuries. The slang term for man, "chap" arose from the use of the abbreviated word to mean a customer, one with whom to bargain. The word was applied to hawkers of chapbooks, broadside ballads, and similar items. Their stock in trade provides a graphic insight into the methods of political and religious campaigners of the Civil War period, for example. Chapman is also a common personal name of the class derived from trades. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「chapmen」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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