ale-drapery

noun

The running of an alehouse.

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Meanings

noun
  1. obsoleteThe running of an alehouse.

    An ale-house keeper would “with a grave air complain that trade was not sufficiently encouraged, when he meant the trade of ale drapery and smoking tobacco'.”

    2002, Richard Grassby, The Business Community of Seventeenth-Century England, page 226
    1 more example

    and fare at all tymes as harde as poor Mopos Cut did with his maisters contreyman in Shorditch, till, by the force of his hinder heeles, he vtterly vndid two milch maydens that had set vp a shoppe of Ale-drapery.

    1592, H. Chettle, Kind-harts Dreames, page 20

Origin

From ale-draper + -y.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

ale-drapery. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ale-drapery

MLA

“ale-drapery.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ale-drapery. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ale-drapery,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ale-drapery.

Source: ale-drapery on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.