_Haberdasher--Martinet._--Can any of your correspondents suggest an
etymology for the word _haberdasher_? I ought, perhaps, to say that I am
acquainted with the derivations propounded by Mr. Richardson, but
consider them all unsatisfactory. While on the subject, I would also ask
if Mr. Richardson's _Dictionary_ is considered the best {168} source
extant of information on English etymology, because I cannot help
thinking that it has very many faults and deficiencies. The very word,
for instance, on the derivation of which your valuable correspondent MR.
FORBES offered a suggestion in No. 38., viz. _Martinet_, I had in vain
sought for in Mr. Richardson's _Dictionary_, at least in his quarto
edition, 1887.