A person who slaughters animals or sells meat; someone who butchers.
From Middle English 'butcher' (from Old French 'bouchier', originally meaning one who sells goat meat) plus the agent suffix '-er'. The root likely derives from Old French 'bouc' meaning 'goat'.
The word 'butcher' originally had nothing to do with actual meat-cutting—it literally meant 'goat seller' in medieval France, since 'bouc' is goat. Over time, it expanded to anyone selling any kind of meat, then to the person doing the slaughtering.
-er suffix defaults to masculine in historical usage (like actor/actress). Butcherer is archaic but reflects gendered trade terminology where women's participation was systematically excluded.
Use 'butcher' for any gender; -er is now gender-neutral in modern English.
["butcher"]
Women have historically worked in butchery and meat processing, though they were often paid less and excluded from guild membership in medieval/early modern Europe.
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