Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913
Chapman
Chap′man, n.; pl. Chapmen (#). [AS. ceápman; ceáp trade + man man; akin to D. koopman, Sw. köpman, Dan. kiöpmand, G. kaufmann.f. Chap to cheapen, and see Cheap.] 1. One who buys and sells; a merchant; a buyer or a seller. [Obs.]
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. T. Fuller.
2. A peddler; a hawker.