What does hawker mean?
Hawker is a noun for a person who sells goods in public, typically from a stall, cart, or temporary pitch and sometimes by moving from place to place. The word is especially common in British English, while street vendor or vendor is more usual in American English, although hawker is understood throughout the English-speaking world. In ordinary use it is usually neutral rather than derogatory, but it can suggest small-scale, informal, or itinerant trade rather than a shop-based business. A hawker may be identified by the goods sold—a fruit hawker, for example—or by the traditional image of calling out to attract customers. The word also has an older occupational sense connected with hawking: historically, a hawker could mean a falconer or handler of hawks. That history gives the modern word a memorable continuity with the practice of carrying and offering goods for sale.
nounA person who sells goods from a stall, cart, or temporary pitch in a public place, often traveling from place to place.
- A person who sells goods from a cart, stall, or temporary pitch in a public place, especially one who travels from place to place.
- Historically, a person who kept, trained, or handled hawks; a falconer.
"A fruit hawker set up a cart outside the railway station."
"The hawker called out to passing shoppers as he wheeled his cart through the market."
"In the historical novel, the hawker was depicted as a falconer serving the local lord."
The plural is regular and formed by adding -s.
"The hawkers packed up their carts after the market closed."
The word hawker once meant a falconer, giving its modern street-trading sense a memorable connection with people who carried and offered goods for sale.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hawker come from?
Hawker comes from Middle English, where it originally referred to a falconer or keeper of hawks and is related to Old English hafoc, meaning “hawk.” Its later sense for a seller is associated with hawk in the meaning “to offer or sell goods from place to place,” and the occupational term became established for an itinerant or street trader. The wider family includes hawk, hawking, hawkweed, and hawk-moth.
How hawker is actually used
Hawker is especially common in British English and is usually neutral, though it can suggest small-scale, informal, or itinerant trade. In American English, street vendor is more common.
Easily confused with hawker
A hawker sells goods publicly or from place to place, whereas a hacker gains unauthorized access to computer systems.