Definition

1. Noun:
   • Master craftsman / workshop owner: A skilled artisan who owns and operates a small handicraft workshop. This term historically implies a person who both possesses a high level of craft skill and employs or exploits other workers (apprentices or journeymen).

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Ông ấy là một thợ chủ có tiếng trong làng nghề mộc. (He is a well-known master craftsman in the woodworking village.)
  • Thợ chủ thường quản lý một nhóm thợ bạn. (A workshop owner typically manages a group of journeymen.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "thợ chủ" carries specific socio-economic connotations from pre-modern and craft-based economies. It often describes a class position where the owner directly supervises production and has a hierarchical relationship with laborers.

Variants and Related Words

• Chủ xưởng (n): Workshop owner. A more general, modern term for a factory or workshop proprietor, without the specific craft connotation.

  • Chủ xưởng may đó rất giàu. (That garment workshop owner is very rich.)

• Thợ cả (n): Master artisan. Emphasizes supreme skill and experience, but not necessarily ownership.

  • Người thợ cả đang dạy nghề cho đám học việc. (The master artisan is teaching the craft to the apprentices.)

Synonyms

• Master craftsman: A person highly skilled in a craft.
• Workshop proprietor: The owner of a small manufacturing business.

Related Concepts

• Thợ bạn (n): Journeyman. A skilled worker employed by a thợ chủ.

  • Thợ bạn làm việc dưới sự chỉ đạo của thợ chủ. (A journeyman works under the direction of a master craftsman.)

• Bóc lột (v): To exploit. This term is frequently associated with the historical relationship between the thợ chủ and the thợ bạn.

  • Mối quan hệ giữa thợ chủ và thợ bạn đôi khi mang tính bóc lột. (The relationship between the master craftsman and the journeyman was sometimes exploitative.)