caird

American  

[kaird, keyrd] / kɛərd, keɪrd /

noun

Scot.

1. a traveling tinker, especially a Romani.

2. a wandering tramp or vagrant.

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caird British  

/ kerd, kɛəd /

noun

1. obsolete a travelling tinker; vagrant

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Etymology

Origin of caird

First recorded in 1655–65; from Scots Gaelic ceard “tinker”; akin to Latin cerdō “workman,” Greek kerdṓ “cunning one”

Example Sentences

"Step in, sir, caird or gentleman," said my father—looking more bent at the shoulder than twelve years before.

From John Splendid The Tale of a Poor Gentleman, and the Little Wars of Lorn by Munro, Neil

I'll make sae bauld, miss, au to chairge ye wi' that bit caird.

From Man and Wife by Collins, Wilkie

Two occupative names of Celtic origin are Gow, a smith, as in The Fair Maid of Perth, and Caird, a tinker— "The fellow had been originally a tinker or caird."

From The Romance of Names by Weekley, Ernest

But tho' his little heart did grieve When round the tinkler prest her, He feign'd to snirtle in his sleeve, When thus the caird address'd her: Air Tune—"Clout the Cauldron."

From Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Burns, Robert

O Willy, I can caird an' spin, Sae ne'er can want for cleedin'; An' gin I hae my Willy's heart, I hae a' the pearls I'm heedin'.

From The Home Book of Verse — Volume 2 by Stevenson, Burton Egbert