chapman
n. countablen. a person who travels from place to place selling things. You might see this word in old books or history lessons about markets.
n. a merchant or itinerant trader who travels between towns to sell goods. Archaic in register; primarily encountered in historical literature or as a surname.
The chapman arrived at the village with a bag of needles and thread.
In the sixteenth century, a chapman would often carry small books called chapbooks to sell to rural families.
Before the rise of permanent retail shops, the local chapman served as a vital link between urban manufacturing hubs and the isolated agrarian communities of the north.
From Middle English chapman, chepman, meaning merchant or trader; equivalent to cheap (noun) + man. Doublet of Kaufman and Koopman.