smith

/smɪθ/

/smɪθ/

Other forms: smiths

A smith is someone whose job involves making things out of metal. Visit a historically accurate colonial village and you might see a smith making tools or nails by hand.

Smith or smithy is shorthand for blacksmith, an artisan who hammers tools and other items out of hot iron or steel. You can also use smith for a variety of other workers, especially if they make things, like a bladesmith or a coppersmith, or work with their hands, like a locksmith or a gunsmith. You can even call a writer a smith — or "wordsmith." The Proto-Indo-European root of this word means "to cut" or "work with a sharp instrument."

Definitions of smith

1. noun

   someone who works metal (especially by hammering it when it is hot and malleable)
   synonyms: metalworker

   types:

   blacksmith

   a smith who forges and shapes iron with a hammer and anvil

   forger

   someone who operates a forge

   farrier, horseshoer

   a person who shoes horses

   type of:

   skilled worker, skilled workman, trained worker

   a worker who has acquired special skills
2. noun

   someone who works at something specified
   types:

   arrowsmith

   a maker of arrows

   gunsmith

   someone who makes or repairs guns

   locksmith

   someone who makes or repairs locks

   tinner, tinsmith

   someone who makes or repairs tinware

   type of:

   skilled worker, skilled workman, trained worker

   a worker who has acquired special skills