Chrysti The Wordsmith: Dictionary of Surnames - 4

Greetings This is Christie the wordsmith. Recently we've been exploring the pages of a lexicon called a dictionary of surnames published by Oxford University Press in 1909 and edited by British lexicographers Patrick Hanks and Flavian Hodges. The dictionary is a remarkable examination of thousands of European surnames. Their distribution histories and ultimate meanings. The editors identify European surnames. Several ways they can be categorized by the bearers of physical location. These are called habitation our topographic names. There are so called anecdotal surnames seasonal surnames and house names. Today we'll look at a category called occupational surnames or names that identify the bearer by his work. The German name style marker for example means carriage maker in England and embroider might have been given the surname Brewster B R U S T E R which comes ultimately from a Middle English verb brewed yesterday meaning to embroider a home phone of this name Brewster's spelled B R E S

T E R became the occupational surname of a brewer of beer a professional fiddle player in Germany might have taken the name of Fiedler meaning fiddler while a Czech musician playing the same instrument in the 15th century might have been surnamed Hudak Lavender was originally the English occupational name for a washer man or launder. The word comes ultimately from the Latin verb Labarre to wash. I'm Christi the wordsmith. The day verb of course Kristie the wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises. A high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry sued web dotcom.