noun
draper
DRAY-per/ˈdreɪpər/
A person or business that sells cloth.
The draper sells cotton and linen by the yard.
Etymology
Drap, meaning cloth, supplies the material around which this occupation was named. A draper originally made or sold cloth; the selected meaning preserves the selling side of that broader trade.
In context
kept by a linen draper named Maltby. She bought nothing whatever at any of the other drapers’ shops
More examples
- She asks the draper for fabric samples.
- Two drapers supply cloth to the local tailors.
- The family runs a draper's shop near the market.
Forms
draper · drapers
Similar words
- fabric dealer
- A more common modern term for someone selling cloth.
- merchant
- Sells goods generally, rather than cloth in particular.