fletcher

1 9.9

A person who makes and sells arrows, often in medieval times

noun
/ˈflɛtʃər/

Archaic

: flechero

Mother-fletcher.

Examples

Nadia, do not give me a fletcher.

The Wedding Ringer (2015)
They are from Evermeet, I am told, crafted by the bowyers and fletchers of the royal family.

Fiction book (1992)
In medieval times, a fletcher crafted arrows using feathers for stability.
The village fletcher sold beautifully decorated arrows made from hardwood.
Every year, the fair featured a skilled fletcher demonstrating the art of arrow-making.

Synonyms

arrowsmith

vsfletcher

Archaic

9.9

A person who makes arrows by hand

also sells them and is especially associated with medieval times

Surface Forms

fletcher singular

fletchers plural

Morphology

fletcher = fletch (semi-transparent) = fletch + er

The noun is formed regularly from the verb 'fletch' with the agentive '-er', but 'fletch' is a rare/archaisic verb, so learners may not reliably infer the meaning from components.

Etymology

Fletcher comes from an old French word fleche meaning 'arrow' plus the ending -er for a person who does a job. So a fletcher was originally someone who made or fitted arrows, which is why the word today means a person who makes or sells arrows.