handicraft

& a. [A corrupt. of handcraft; the i being inserted in imitation of handiwork; A. S. handcraft =a trade.] A. As substantive : 1. Work performed by the hand; manual labor or occupation. "He was first bred to a handicraft, and as I take it to a taylor."- Fuller : Worthies; Cheshire. *2. One who lives by manual labor; one skilled in a mechanical art, a handicraftsman. "The townes be not only the ornament of the real me, but also the seate of merc haunts, the place of handicraftes."-Sir J. Cheke: Hurt of Sedition. B. As adj .: Pertaining or relating to handicraft or manual labor.