Plural of caddy; people who carry golf clubs for players, or small containers for storing tea or other items.
From Scottish Lowland 'cadie', meaning a young man or porter, which derives from French 'cadet' (younger son). The word's journey shows how colonial trade and golf culture spread Scottish terms: 'cadet' became 'cadie' became 'caddy', eventually applying to both golf helpers and small containers (perhaps because caddies originally carried items in small boxes).
The word 'caddy' bridges two totally different meanings because of job diversity: Scottish 'cadies' were all-purpose carriers who might escort you, carry your clubs, or transport goods. Golf adopted 'caddy' for club-carriers, while tea merchants independently used 'caddy' for small storage containers because caddies originally delivered tea in small sealed boxes. Same word, two totally different uses!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.