Advertisement

sutler (n.)

formerly also suttler, "person who follows an army to sell food to soldiers," 1580s, from Middle Dutch soeteler "small tradesman, peddler, victualer, camp cook" (Dutch zoetelaar), cognate with Middle Low German suteler, sudeler "person who performs dirty tasks," Middle High German sudelen "to cook badly," Middle Dutch soetelen "to cook badly." Probably also related to Dutch zieder, German sieden "to seethe," from Proto-Germanic *suth-, from PIE root *seut- "to seethe, boil" (see seethe).

Others are reading

Advertisement
Definitions of sutler from WordNet

sutler (n.)
a supplier of victuals or supplies to an army;
Synonyms: victualer / victualler / provisioner
From wordnet.princeton.edu