Meanings
craftsman1
plural craftsmen · alternative craftman
- One who is highly skilled at one's trade; an artisan or artificer.
Dilettanteism presupposes art as botchwork does handicraft; and the Dilettante holds the same relation to the artist that the botcher does to the craftsman.
1874, The Quarterly Review, volume 137, page 3882 more examples
And if someone wants to know how to make objections to actual craftsmen themselves on the subject of art in general or any particular art, there are published treatises available, as you know.
2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 232dBut through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries. By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal.
2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion - A person who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand.
1 more example
Yeh Wang (1826-1889), a master craftsman born in Chiayi, founded the Taiwanese branch of the industry, and though his work is rare these days, you can still see some of his original figures in Ciji Temple in Syuejia near Tainan (see p.333).[...]Chiayi is still home to numerous koji craftsmen - in addition to its vibrant colours, koji is unique in that everything is handmade.
2007, Stephen Keeling, Brice Minnigh, “Central Taiwan”, in The Rough Guide to Taiwan (Rough Guides), Penguin, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 287 - A person who produces arts and crafts.
Craftsman2
- not comparableOf an architectural style prominent in the United States in the early 20th century.
plural Craftsmen
- A building built in the Craftsman architectural style
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna male professional whose work is consistently of high quality
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*krafjaną
- Proto-Germanic*kraftuz
- Proto-West Germanic*kraftu
- Old Englishcræft
- Middle Englishcraft
- Englishcraft
- Proto-Indo-European*mon-
- Proto-Germanic*mann-
- Proto-West Germanic*mann
- Old Englishmann
- Middle Englishman
- Englishcraftsman
Translations
Ancient Greek τεχνίτης
- τεχνίτης (tekhnítēs)male artisan
Arabic صَانِع, حِرَفِيّ
- صَانِع (ṣāniʕ)male artisan
- حِرَفِيّ (ḥirafiyy)male artisan
- حِرْفِيّ (ḥirfiyy)male artisan
Bengali কারিগর
- কারিগর (karigor)male artisan
Bulgarian занаятчи́я
- занаятчи́я (zanajatčíja)male artisan
Catalan artesà
- artesàmale artisan
Chinese Mandarin 工匠, 男工匠
- 工匠 (gōngjiàng)male artisan
- 男工匠 (nángōngjiàng)male artisan
- 匠 (jiàng)male artisan
Czech řemeslník
- řemeslníkmale artisan
Danish håndværker
- håndværkermale artisan
Dutch vakman
- vakmanmale artisan
Estonian käsitööline
- käsitöölinemale artisan
Finnish käsityöläinen
- käsityöläinenmale artisan
French artisan
- artisanmale artisan
German Handwerker
- Handwerkermale artisan
Greek τεχνίτης
- τεχνίτης (technítis)male artisan
Hindi कारीगर
- कारीगर (kārīgar)male artisan
Hungarian kisiparos, mesterember
- kisiparosmale artisan
- mesterembermale artisan
- művesmale artisan
Icelandic handverksmaður
- handverksmaðurmale artisan
Indonesian tukang
- tukangmale artisan
Irish fear ceirde
- fear ceirdemale artisan
Italian artefice, artigiano
- arteficemale artisan
- artigianomale artisan
Japanese 工匠, 職人
- 工匠 (kōshō)male artisan
- 職人 (shokunin)male artisan
Korean 장인, 공장
- 장인 (jang'in)male artisan
- 공장 (gongjang)male artisan
Latin artifex, opifex
- artifexmale artisan
- opifexmale artisan
Latvian amatnieks
- amatnieksmale artisan
Lithuanian amatininkas
- amatininkasmale artisan
Malay tukang, pandai
- tukangmale artisan
- pandaimale artisan
Māori ringarehe
- ringarehemale artisan
Norwegian Bokmål håndverker
- håndverkermale artisan
Polish rzemieślnik
- rzemieślnikmale artisan
Portuguese artesão
- artesãomale artisan
Romanian meșteșugar, artizan
- meșteșugarmale artisan
- artizanmale artisan
Russian реме́сленник
- реме́сленник (reméslennik)male artisan
Slovak remeselnik
- remeselnikmale artisan
Spanish fabro
- fabromale artisan
Swedish hantverkare
- hantverkaremale artisan
Thai ช่างฝีมือ
- ช่างฝีมือ (châang-fǐi-mʉʉ)male artisan
Turkish sanatkâr, zanaatçı
- sanatkârmale artisan
- zanaatçımale artisan
- zanaatkarmale artisan
- ustamale artisan
Ukrainian ремісни́к
- ремісни́к (remisnýk)male artisan
Urdu کارِیگَر
- کارِیگَر (kārīgar)male artisan
Vietnamese nghệ nhân
- nghệ nhânmale artisan
Welsh crefftwr
- crefftwrmale artisan
Yiddish בעל־מלאָכה
- בעל־מלאָכה (balmelokhe)male artisan
Cite this entry
craftsman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/craftsman
“craftsman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/craftsman. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “craftsman,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/craftsman.
Source: craftsman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.