handicraft

(han’di-kraft), n. and a. [Formerly also handy craft; a corruption, by confusion with handiwork, of the earlier handcraft, q. v.] T, x. 1. Manual labor; hand-work in general. The full citizens, having become rich, only carried on trade, whilst the handicraft was left exclusively to the poor and the unfree. English Gilds (B. E. T. 8.), Int., p. evii. Specifically—2. Skilled labor with the hands; manual skill or expertne . Fift Element, of Instruments the haft; The Tool of Tools, and Hand of Handy-Craft. Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas’s Weeks, ii., The Handy-Crafts, Monuments are either works of Art or works of Handier aft. Art is either Constructive or Imitative; Handicraft, either Useful or Decorative. C. T. Newton, Art and Archeeol., p. 17. 3. A manual employment or calling; a mechanical trade. John Speed was born at Farring ton in this county, as his own daughter hath informed me. He was first bred toa handicraft, and, as I take it, to a taylor. Fuller, Worthies, Cheshire. Anatomy, which is my handicraft, is one of the most difficult kinds of mechanical labour. Hualey, Tech. Education. 4, A handicraftsman. ([Rare.] The nurseries of children of ordinary gentlemen and handicrafts are managed in the same manner. Swift. Thou knowest.. that we handicrafts best love the folks we live by. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth, vi. II. a. Belonging to a manual trade or mechanical art.