Ships passenger lists, census returns and other documents used in genealogy may give an ancestor's occupation, this list gives more modern interpretations of those terms.

M

Macon/Macun/Marson - mason

Malender - farmer

Malster - brewer of malted beverages (beer)

Manciple - steward

Marescallus - marshall

Marshall - horse servant, or groom

Mason - stone carver

Mayer - physician

Medicus - leech; doctor

Mercator - merchant

Millow - miller

Millwright - one who designs or builds mills

Mintmaster - issuer of local currency [mintner?]

Molendinarius/Muner - miller

Monger - seller (of goods ie. ale, fish)

Muleskinner - teamster

N

Neatherder - cow herd

Nedder - needle-maker

Nettir - knitter

O

Ordinary - innkeeper; keeper of a fixed price Inn

Osler - bird-catcher

Osnard - herder of oxen

Outrider - mounted attendant riding before or behind a carriage

P

Packman - itinerant peddler

Palmer - a pilgrim; one who had been, or pretended to have been, to the Holy Land

Paneler - saddler

Pannarius - clothier and draper

Pannebeter - pan-hammerer, or perhaps clothdriver

Pardoner - one licensed to sell Papal Indulgences

Parcheminer - parchment maker

Parochus - rector, pastor

Patton/Patten Maker - a maker of a clog shod with an iron ring; maker of iron-rimmed pattens for footware. A clog was a wooden pole with a pattern cut into the end

Peever - pepper-seller

Pelliparius/Peltarius - skinner

Peregrinator - itinerant wanderer

Peruker/Perukmaker - wig maker

Pettifogger - shyster; lawyer

Pictor - painter

Pigman - crockery dealer

Pilcher - maker of pilches

Pinder - keeper of the pound or pinfold

Piscarius - fishmonger

Piscator - fisherman [Pescador in Spanish]

Pistor - miller or baker

Plantifene - see avernator

Plomer - plumber

Ploughwright - one who makes or repairs ploughs/plows

Plumber - one who applied sheet lead for roofing and set lead frames for plain or stained glass windows

Porcher - pig-keeper

Porter - gate-keeper or door-keeper

Poulterer - dealer in poultry

Puddler - wrought iron worker

Pynner - pin-maker

Q

Quarrier - quarry worker

Quarryman - stonecutter

R

Revenuer - federal officer enforcing the law against illegal manufacturing of whisky

Rigger - hoist tackler worker

Ripper - fish monger

Roper - ropemaker; maker of rope or nets

Rotarius - wheelwright

Rower - builder of (small) wagon wheels

S

Saddler - maker and repairer of saddles and bridles

Safernman - grower of saffron

Samitere/Samite - maker of a kind of heavy silk stuff

Sauntere - probably salt maker

Sausere - salter

Savant - servant

Sawbones - physician

Sawyer - sawer of wood; carpenter

Scabbler - person who uses a scabbler (pick) to trim the sides of a tunnel

Schumacker - shoemaker; cobbler

Scribbler - minor or worthless author

Scrivener - scribe or clerk; professional or public copyist or writer; notary public

Scrutiner - election judge

Seinter - girdlemaker

Seler/sellarius - sadder

Serviens - sergeant

Servus - servant

Sevier - sieve-maker

Sewer - tailor or shoemaker

Sharman/Sherman/Shearman - one who raised the surface of wollen cloth and then sheared it to a smooth surface; cutter of woolen cloth

Shether - see vaginarius

Shrieve - sheriff

Sifker - sievemaker

Sissor/Cissor - tailor

Sizer - one who applies size to textiles

Slater - roofer; tiler

Slatter - slater (same as hillard)

Slaymaker/Sleymaker - maker of reeds or slays (instruments to part threads in weaving) for looms

Slopseller - seller of ready-made clothes in a slop shop

Snobscat/Snob - shoe repairer; cobbler

Soper - soapmaker

Sorter - tailor

Soyor - sawyer

Spicer - grocer

Spinster - unmarried woman; spinner (female)

Spittleman - hospital attendant

Spragger - person who inserts a piece of wood (sprag) between the wheels of a lorry (truck) to bring it to a standstill

Spurrer/Spurrier - spurmaker

Stabler - ostler

Stasyon/Stawsun - probably a stationer

Stokiner - maker or weaver of stockings

Squarewright - carpenter, specifically a furniture maker

Squire - country gentleman; farm owner; justice of peace

Stuff Gown/Gownsman - junior barrister

Sugarer - dealer in sugar (grocer?)

Sumner - summoner or apparitor

Supercargo - officer on merchant ship who is in charge of cargo and the commercial concerns of the ship

Sutler - one who supplies an army with provisions

T

Tabernarius - taverner; innkeeper

Tannator - tanner; curer of animal hide into leather

Taper - candlewick maker or seller

Tapley - one who puts the tap in an ale cask

Tasker - reaper

Tawer - one who taws (makes hide into leather without the use of tanning)

Teamster - one who drives a team (horses or oxen) for hauling

Teinter - dyer

Tenter - attendant for an engine

Textor - weaver

Thatcher - roofer (using thatch)

Thirdbororough - tithing man or deputy constable

Tide Waiter - customs inspector

Tinker - an itinerant mender and seller of kettles, tin pots and pans

Tinctor - dyer or possibly a painter

Tipstaff - policeman

Todd - fox hunter

Travers - toll bridge collector

Tripper - dancer

Tucker - cleaner of cloth goods

Turner - turner of wood (using a lathe) into spindles

U

Upholder - upholsterer; also a cheapjack and seller of secondhand goods

V

Vaginarius - sheather; scabbard maker

Venator/Venur - huntsman

Verderer - a Borsholder, Constable.

Victualer - tavern keeper, or one who provides an army, navy, or ship with food supplies

Vitner - wine merchant

Vulcan - blacksmith

W

Wagoner - teamster not for hire

Wainwright - wagon maker

Waiter - customs officer or tide waiter; one who waited on the tide to collect duty on goods brought in

Walker - fuller; cloth trampler or cleaner

Webber/Webster - weaver; loom operator

Wharfinger - owner of a wharf

Wheelwright - builder/repairer of wagon wheels, carriages etc.

Whitcher - maker of chests

Whitesmith - tinsmith; worker of iron who finishes or polishes the work

Whittawer - one who tans skin into white leather

Wonkey-scoop - driver who operates a one horse scoop

Wright - workman, especially a construction worker ie. wheelwright

Y

Yeoman - farmer who owns his own land; freehold farmer

Part 1

Abbreviations ~ Diseases ~ Epidemics ~ Latin ~ Occupations ~ Terminology

More occupational terminology can be found in the books:

Farm Servants and Labour in Lowland Scotland, 1770-1914

and:

Servants: English Domestics in the Eighteenth Century

and:

A Commoner's Cottage: The Story of a Surrey Cottage and Its Occupants Through the Ages

and:

Historical Directory of Trade Unions

and:

The Great Household in Late Medieval England