What does shroudier mean?
A shroudier is, most commonly, a person who makes shrouds, the cloths or garments used to wrap or cover the dead for burial. The word can also refer to someone who sells shrouds, reflecting the historical trade of preparing and supplying funeral fabrics. In rarer figurative use, a shroudier is a person who conceals a person, object, or idea beneath something that hides its true nature. Today the term is uncommon and is likely to appear in historical writing, literary descriptions of funeral customs, or specialized discussions of the shroud-making trade. Its principal historical importance lies in recording a particular craft associated with death and burial, while its figurative sense continues the older verb's association with covering and concealment.
nounA person who makes or sells shrouds; also, in rarer use, someone who shrouds or conceals something.
- A person who makes shrouds.
- A seller or supplier of shrouds.
- A person who shrouds, veils, or conceals something.
"The shroudier carefully prepared the fabric for the funeral garment."
"The shroudier measured the deceased's body before cutting the burial cloth."
"His prose shrouds an uncertain argument in deliberately obscure language."
The plural is used when referring to more than one maker or seller of shrouds.
"The shroudiers delivered the finished garments before the funeral."
Shroudier belongs to a small but memorable profession: the craftspeople who made the cloth used to wrap the dead.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does shroudier come from?
The word is formed from “shroud” with the agent suffix “-er,” meaning a person who makes or sells the object named by the base word. “Shroud” itself comes from Old English scrūd, meaning a garment or covering, and is related to Old Norse skrúð, used for similar coverings. The occupational form “shroudier” developed within the historical culture of making and supplying burial garments.
How shroudier is actually used
The word is now rare and chiefly historical or literary. Its first two senses refer to a funeral-trade worker, while the third is more figurative.
Easily confused with shroudier
A shroud is the cloth or garment itself, whereas a shroudier is the person who makes or sells it.