shoemaker
UK[ˈʃuːˌmeɪkə]US[ˈʃuːˌmeɪkər]
n
a person whose job is making and repairing shoes and boots.
Morpheme Breakdown
shoe
maker
shoe
footwear
maker
one who makes
Etymology
the word 'shoemaker' is a transparent compound from old english, formed from 'scōh' (shoe) and 'macere' (maker). the old english term 'scōh' is of germanic origin, related to dutch 'schoen' and german 'schuh', and can be traced back to a proto-germanic root. the agent noun 'maker' derives from the verb 'macian', which has a common germanic ancestry and is related to the proto-indo-european root mag-, meaning 'to knead, fashion, or fit'. the compound logically and directly describes the profession, illustrating a classic pattern in english for naming occupations by combining the object with the agent of its creation.
Analysis
Structure: shoe (footwear) + maker (one who makes)
shoe (old english 'scōh', meaning a covering for the foot); maker (old english 'macian', meaning to make, with the agent suffix '-er' indicating a person who performs the action).
Examples
the local shoemaker repaired my leather boots perfectly.
in the old tale, the poor shoemaker was helped by elves.
he apprenticed with a master shoemaker to learn the craft.