Etymology Dictionary

HABERDASHER,  a seller of small wares  (F.,—Scand.)   'An haberdasher;'  Chaucer, C. T. 363.   'The haberdasher heapeth wealth by hattes;' Gascoigne, Fruits of War, st. 64.   'Haberdasher, a hatter, or seller of hats; also, a dealer in small wares;' Kersey.   'A haberdasher, mercier; a poore, petty haberdasher of small wares, mercerot;' Sherwood, index to Cotgrave.   α. So named from their selling a stuff called hapertas in Old French, of which (possibly) hats were sometimes made.   In the Liber Albus, ed. Riley, p. 225, is mentioned 'la charge de hapertas;' in the E. version by Riley, 'the load of hapertas.'   And again, at p. 231, we find 'les feez de leyne d'Espagne, wadmal, mercerie, canevas,... feutre, lormerie, peil, haberdashrie, esquireux,... et les autres choses qe l'em acustument par fee, vi. d;' thus Englished by Riley:  'the fixed charge upon wool of Spain, wadmal mercery, canvas,... felt, lymere, pile, haberdassherie, squirrel-skins,... and upon other articles that pay custom at a fixed rate, is six pence.'   β. The word is of Scand. origin.   Mr. Wedgwood cites from an old Icel. lexicon (by Gudmundus Andreae) the Icel. hapurtask, which he explains by 'trumpery, things of trifling value, scruta frivola, ripsraps.'   But this throws no light on the Icel. word itself.   γ. I suspect that the true sense of the word hapertas was, originally, 'pedlars' wares,' and that they were named from the bag in which they were carried; cf. Icel. haprtask, hafrtask, a haversack (Cleasby and Vigfusson).   δ. In this case, the primary use of the bag was to carry oats or provisions in; and the former part of the word is the same as the former part of the word Haversack, q.v.   ε. The syllable task is from Icel. taska, a trunk, chest, pouch, pocket; cognate with G. tasche, a pouch, scrip.   Thus the orig. sense of haberdasher was 'one who bears an oat-bag,' hence, a pedlar.   Der. haberdaher-y. [†]

ADDENDA

The word occurs early in the 14th century.   Some ill-made caps were found 'super diversos haberdasshers et capellarios;'  Liber Memorandorum, temp. Edw. II., pr. in Liber Albus, ed. Riley, iii. 433.