Middle English Alternative forms sotter, sotur, souter, soutre, sowtar, sowtare, sowter, sowtere, sutare, suter, sutere, sutter zoutere (Kent) Etymology Inherited from Old English sūtere, from Latin sūtor; compare Old Danish sutæræ, Old Swedish sūtare. Pronunciation IPA(key): /ˈsuːtər(ə)/, /ˈsutər(ə)/ Noun soutere (plural souteres) A shoemaker (one who makes shoes) A cobbler (one who mends shoes) late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Reeve's Prologue, The Canterbury Tales, line 3903-3904: The devel made a reve for to preche,And of a souter a shipman or a leche.The devil made a reeve to preach,Or of a cobbler made a shipman or a physician. Descendants English: souter Scots: souter, sutter References “sǒutē̆r(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007. Wikiwand - on Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.