Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Chapman \Chap"man\, n.; pl. {Chapmen}. [AS. ce['a]pman; ce['a]p
   trade + man man; akin to D. koopman, Sw. k["o]pman, Dan.
   ki["o]pmand, G. kaufmann.f. {Chap} to cheapen, and see
   {Cheap}.]
   1. One who buys and sells; a merchant; a buyer or a seller.
      [Obs.]

            The word of life is a quick commodity, and ought
            not, as a drug to be obtruded on those chapmen who
            are unwilling to buy it.              --T. Fuller.

   2. A peddler; a hawker.