weaver
1 Americannoun
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James Baird, 1833–1912, U.S. politician: congressman 1879–81, 1885–89.
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Robert Clifton, 1907–97, U.S. economist and government official: first Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 1966–68.
noun
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a person who weaves, esp as a means of livelihood
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short for weaverbird
Etymology
Origin of weaver
First recorded in 1325–75, weaver is from the Middle English word wevere. See weave, -er 1
Explanation
A person who makes fabric by weaving fiber together is a weaver. Most weavers use a loom, a device that holds the threads tightly as they're being woven. A craft weaver works by hand, weaving without a loom, but most weavers use either a hand loom or a power loom. This more mechanized type of loom was invented in the 1780s, and it made the work less physically taxing for weavers. The Proto-Indo-European root of weaver is also the source of the Sanskrit word ubhnati, "he laces together" and the Greek word hyphe, or "web."
Vocabulary lists containing weaver
Name That Job: Occupational Last Names
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Getting Native people out into nature is going to bring that tribal stewardship with it. The basket weaver, she can’t help herself; she’s going to care for those basket weaving materials.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026
Shadrack Yao Agboli, a fugu weaver who also works with the National Commission on Culture, has a home workshop where long bands of hand-loomed fabric hang to dry in the afternoon sun.
From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026
Another old friend, Deborah Needleman, left her high-powered job as a magazine editor and became an expert basket weaver.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
In Mr Modi's constituency in the northern city of Varanasi, saree weaver Shiv Johri Patel says he's got many worries - but he's clear who's getting his vote.
From BBC • May 16, 2024
My heart had been broken beyond the repair of King Khosrou’s greatest weaver, and carried in it a hole so big it could be said to be made up entirely of one big flaw.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
