tradefallen

English

Etymology

From trade +‎ fallen.

Adjective

tradefallen (comparative more tradefallen, superlative most tradefallen)

  1. (rare) out of work or business, unemployed
    • c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
      [D]iſcarded, vniuſt ſeruingmen, yonger ſonnes to yonger brothers, reuolted tapſters, and Oſtlers, tradefalne, the cankers of a calme world, and a long peace, ten times more diſhonourable ragged then an olde fazd ancient, […]
    • c. 1607–1610 (date written), Thomas Middleton; Thomas Dekker, The Roaring Girle. Or Moll Cut-purse. […], London: […] [Nicholas Okes] for Thomas Archer, […], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the Internet Archive page number):
      In thee I defye all men, there worſt hates, / And their beſt flatteries, all their golden witchcrafts, / With which they intangle the poore ſpirits of fooles, / Diſtreſſed needlewomen and trade-fallne wiues. / Fiſh that muſt needs bite, or themſelues be bitten, / Such hungry things as theſe may ſoone be tooke / With a worme faſtned on a golden hooke.
    • 1919, William George Fitzgerald, “Ignatius Phayre”, in America’s Day: Studies in Light and Shade, page 55:
      It is depressing to watch the bitterness of the disinherited in these sorting-pens; the surliness of outcasts and tradefallen failures—yet no sooner do they step ashore at the Battery than they fill their lungs with American air, which has a marvellous effect.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.