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• weaver
  weaver

  noun

  a person who weaves.
• Weaver
  Weaver

  noun

  James Baird, 1833–1912, U.S. politician: congressman 1879–81, 1885–89.

weaver

¹ American  

[wee-ver] / ˈwi vər /

noun

• weavers
  plural

1. a person who weaves.

2. a person whose occupation is weaving.

3. a weaverbird.

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Weaver ² American  

[wee-ver] / ˈwi vər /

noun

1. James Baird, 1833–1912, U.S. politician: congressman 1879–81, 1885–89.

2. Robert Clifton, 1907–97, U.S. economist and government official: first Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 1966–68.

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weaver British  

/ ˈwiːvə /

noun

1. a person who weaves, esp as a means of livelihood

2. short for weaverbird

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• weavers
  plural

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

weaver Weaver weavers

Researchers from several South American institutions have identified a new species of crevice weaver spider, expanding what scientists know about the Pikelinia genus.

From Science Daily ● May 1, 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

It has also partnered with Native American artisans such textile weaver Naiomi Glasses as part of its artist in residence program.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025

Govan had recently flown in from Tilburg in the Netherlands, where he visited the TextielMuseum’s TextielLab with interdisciplinary artist and weaver Sarah Rosalena.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2025

“Wait until a real tale-teller, a word-spinner, a true weaver, comes along. They’ll forget all about that spider and his little brood.”

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

“All this hype for PLFs I think has the potential to hook casual and infrequent cinemagoers into becoming lovers and enthusiasts of cinema,” Weaver said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

“A lot of these perks are excessive,” said Rosanna Weaver, an executive-pay consultant for the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Emily Weaver Rhodes, SWA deputy director, told BBC Radio Scotland that the removal of tariffs showed the positive relationship between the US and UK.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

The Weaver Overground line has been partially closed in response to the incident.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

There is no written record that Lawrence replied to the overture, although around the same time, he registered a private opinion of the federation—and of scientific activism in general—in a letter to Weaver.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

The streets are also named for these weavers of words, so they’re overhead and underfoot.

From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026

Because “the demand for woven cloth could fluctuate wildly,” she writes, “as quickly as weavers remembered the good wages, memories of periods of acute hardship came flooding back.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025

Through November, the museum features an open-air spider pavilion, a ticketed exhibit that allows visitors to walk amid hundreds of spiders known as orb weavers and their intricate webs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2025

Behind the looms of a workshop in the heart of Addis Ababa, dozens of weavers deftly repeat the same motions to craft traditional dresses -- a centuries-old skill now threatened by Ethiopia's economic hardships.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2025

Tailors, leather workers, cobblers, tanners, weavers, spice dealers, peddlers, merchants, silversmiths, goldsmiths—a whole wonderful community that lived and worked together and flourished—are being forced to leave.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar