koopman, noun

/ˈkʊəpman/
Plurals:
koopmans, koopmen.
Origin:
DutchShow more Dutch, koop (from kopen to buy) + man man.
obs. except in historical contexts
A merchant or trader; see quotation 1823.
1772 G. Forster Voy. round World I. 71The second Governor has the direction of the Company’s whole commerce here...He and the Fiscal have the rank of upper koopman.
1772 G. Forster Voy. round World I. 72The major..has the rank of koopman or merchant.
1790 tr. of F. Le Vaillant’s Trav. II. 101The name of Koopmans was also given to those who first carried on trade by barter. These two words signify, in very good Dutch, a merchant or dealer.
1806 J. Barrow Trav. II. 96Koopman or merchant was a title that conferred rank at the Cape, to which the military even aspired.
1823 W.W. Bird State of Cape of G.H. 120An unproductive harvest..is not more to be regretted by the boer than by the dealers, or koopmen, as they are called.
1823 W.W. Bird State of Cape of G.H. 148On the address of a letter to an Englishman, after the word esquire, they sometimes add, by way of compliment, the appellation koopman (or merchant) as the superlative distinction.
1911 L. Cohen Reminisc. of Kimberley 398These people recognized no superior in rank to themselves, except..the nearest Koopman..whose office was in their eyes a sacred calling, as in the old Dutch East India Company trade was a complete monopoly.
1949 L.G. Green In Land of Afternoon 197Strand Street was once known as ‘the street of the koopmans’ (the merchants) who lived there because they were close to the shipping.
A merchant or trader; see quotation 1823.
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17721949

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obsolete or obsolescent
kooper, nounn.kop, nounn.
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