means A peddler is someone who travels around selling small goods, carrying their wares from place to place rather than working from a fixed shop.

from From Middle English 'pedlere,' likely tied to 'ped,' an old dialect word for a basket or pannier — the very container a traveling seller would lug from town to town. So the word is essentially 'one with a basket.' A related form, 'pedder,' shows up early too. The connection to 'peddle' (the verb) actually runs backward: the noun came first, and 'peddle' was coined later from it.