Chāp'man, n.

n.; pl. CHĀP'MEN. [A-S. ceapman, from ceapan, ceapian, to buy; D. koopman, Sw. köpman, Dan. kiöbmand, Ger. kaufmann. See CHAP, v. i.] One who buys or sells; a purchaser; a buyer; a seller; a merchant.

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. Fuller.

☞ This word formerly meant both buyer and seller, but in later use is commonly restricted to the former sense.