cobbler

Meaning

1. A person who repairs, and sometimes makes, shoes.
2. (Australia, New-Zealand, slang) A sheep left to the end to be sheared (for example, because its wool is filthy, or because it is difficult to catch).
3. (obsolete) A person who cobbles (“to assemble or mend in an improvised or rough way”); a clumsy workman.

Synonyms

shoemaker

shoe-maker

botcher

bootmaker

boot maker

deep-dish pie

shoe repair shop

dud

shortcake

snob

tanner

tench

tinker

water strider

bungler

butterfish

shoe repairer

cordwainer

Carolina pompano

cobblerfish

common pampano

deteira

shoe repairman

Florida pompano

bombie

estuary catfish

pine sawyer

common pompano

flan

scamper

Translations

cordonnier

zapatero

calzolaio

Schuster

sapateiro

ciabattino

schoenmaker

sutor

Schuhmacher

savetier

sabater

ayakkabıcı

schoenlapper

Flickschuster

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkɒblə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: cobeler

Inherited from Middle English: -

Inherited from Old English: cop

Inherited from Middle English: cobbe

In summary

Inherited from Middle English cobeler, cobelere (“mender of shoes, cobbler”) [and other forms]; further origin unknown. The word appears to be derived from an early form of cobble (“to mend roughly, patch; (specifically) to mend shoes, especially roughly”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns), but is attested much earlier than the verb which suggests that the verb may be a back-formation from cobbler.
Sense 2 (“sheep left to the end to be sheared”) is a pun on cobbler’s last (“tool for shaping or preserving the shape of shoes”); while sense 3 (“clumsy workman”) is derived from cobble + -er: see above.