Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One that makes, trims, designs, or sells hats.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Formerly, a man who dealt in articles for women's wear; according to Johnson, “one who sells ribands and dresses for women”; now, in common usage, a woman who makes and sells bonnets and other head-gear for women; also, in England, one who furnishes both bonnets and dresses, or complete outfits.
  • noun Formerly, one who made or sold armor of Milan; hence, a dealer in armor.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Formerly, a man who imported and dealt in small articles of a miscellaneous kind, especially such as please the fancy of women.
  • noun A person who designs, makes, trims, or deals in hats, bonnets, headdresses, etc., for women.
  • noun a man who makes or deals in millinery, that occupation having been at one time predominantly performed by women; hence, contemptuously, a man who is busied with trifling occupations or embellishments.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A person who is involved in the manufacture, design, or sale of hats for women.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun someone who makes and sells hats

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably alteration of Middle English Milener, native of Milan, from Milan, the source of goods such as bonnets and lace.]

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Examples

  • "The term milliner covered a wide variety of skills, including making cloaks, muffs, hoops, gloves, riding habits and petticoats" Miriam Moss, Women and Business (London: Wayland

    Women and Finance in the Early National U.S. 2000

  • Well, this milliner is inspired – by the writing, the ideas, and the hat.

    ‘Cause sequels are… New and Improved!** | Her Bad Mother 2006

  • She might have been a prosperous milliner from the Commercial Road, and she had a meek man along who wore the husband's air of depressed responsibility.

    The Convert 1907

  • The word "milliner" - a women's hat maker-first appeared in 1529 and is a reference to Milan, Italy, which was renowned for the straw from which hats were made.

    unknown title 2009

  • A point of the first importance to the girl who means to be a milliner is the fact that millinery is a seasonal trade.

    The Canadian Girl at Work A Book of Vocational Guidance Marjory MacMurchy Willison

  • I owe the butcher, grocer, furniture dealer, photographer -- and the milliner is the worst of all.

    The Bacillus of Beauty A Romance of To-day Harriet Stark

  • "riddle-diddle-dow," Furlong wondered what a milliner could have to do in such an establishment, and his wonder was not lessened when his guide added, "The milliner is a queer chap, and maybe he'll tell us something funny."

    Handy Andy, Volume One A Tale of Irish Life, in Two Volumes Samuel Lover 1832

  • The milliner’s intentions on the subject of this dress — the milliner was a Frenchwoman, and greatly resembled Mrs Skewton — were so chaste and elegant, that Mrs Skewton bespoke one like it for herself.

    Dombey and Son 2007

  • The hoarse grating sound of the saw, the whistling of the plane, and the stroke of the mallet denoted the presence of the carpenter; and the sharper clink of a hammer told of old Fogy, the family "milliner," being at work; but it was not on millinery Fogy was now employed, though neither was it legitimate tinker's work.

    Handy Andy, Volume 2 — a Tale of Irish Life Samuel Lover 1832

  • This is Fogy, the milliner, sir, "said he to Furlong, whose surprise was further increased, when, in the person of the man called the milliner, he beheld a tinker.

    Handy Andy, Volume One A Tale of Irish Life, in Two Volumes Samuel Lover 1832

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