soutere

Middle English

Alternative forms

• sotter, sotur, souter, soutre, sowtar, sowtare, sowter, sowtere, sutare, suter, sutere, sutter
• zoutere (Kent)

Etymology

Inherited from Old English sūtere, from Latin sūtor; compare Old Danish sutæræ, Old Swedish sūtare.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsuːtər(ə)/, /ˈsutər(ə)/

Noun

soutere (plural souteres)

1. A shoemaker (one who makes shoes)
2. A cobbler (one who mends shoes)
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Reeve's Prologue, The Canterbury Tales, line 3903-3904:

     The devel made a reve for to preche,
     And of a souter a shipman or a leche.

     The devil made a reeve to preach,
     Or of a cobbler made a shipman or a physician.

Descendants

• English: souter
• Scots: souter, sutter

References

• “sǒutē̆r(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.