chapman Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun United States pioneer who planted apple trees as he traveled (1774-1845)
    John Chapman; Johnny Appleseed.
  2. noun archaic term for an itinerant peddler

WordNet

Chap"man noun
Etymology
AS. ceápman; ceáp trade + man man; akin to D. koopman, Sw. köpman, Dan. kiöpmand, G. kaufmann.f. Chap to cheapen, and see Cheap.
Wordforms
plural Chapmen
Definitions
  1. One who buys and sells; a merchant; a buyer or a seller. Obs.
    The word of life is a quick commodity, and ought not, as a drug to be obtruded on those chapmen who are unwilling to buy it. T. Fuller.
  2. A peddler; a hawker.

Webster 1913