Luddite
[luhd-ahyt]
- a member of any of various bands of workers in England (1811–16) organized to destroy manufacturing machinery, under the belief that its use diminished employment.
- someone who is opposed or resistant to new technologies or technological change.
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Origin of Luddite
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for luddism
Historical Examples
Not the least remarkable feature of the story of Luddism is the part played by spies and agents provocateurs.
Luddite
- any of the textile workers opposed to mechanization who rioted and organized machine-breaking between 1811 and 1816
- any opponent of industrial change or innovation
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- of or relating to the Luddites
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Word Origin
C19: alleged to be named after Ned Ludd, an 18th-century Leicestershire workman, who destroyed industrial machinery
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for luddism
Luddite
n.
also luddite, 1811, from name taken by an organized band of weavers who destroyed machinery in Midlands and northern England 1811-16 for fear it would deprive them of work. Supposedly from Ned Ludd, a Leicestershire worker who in 1779 had done the same before through insanity (but that story first was told in 1847). Applied to modern rejecters of automation and technology from at least 1961. As an adjective from 1812.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper