1. someone whose job is to make accurate technical drawings of buildings, machines,
1.nounB2
Definition
someone whose job is to make accurate technical drawings of buildings, machines, or structures, showing exact sizes and how every part fits together — also called a draftsman or draftswoman.
Example
Kehinde works as a draftsperson for a large building company in Lagos.
job title pattern: works as a draftsperson
The draftsperson spent Monday adding the new bathroom plans to the main drawing.
Dmitri studied for three years to become a fully trained draftsperson.
verb pattern: studied to become a draftsperson
Sana, the lead draftsperson on the museum project, found a mistake in the numbers.
apposition: the lead draftsperson on [project]
Before work started, a draftsperson made proper drawings from the engineer's quick sketches.
Draftsman and draftsperson refer to the same role, but draftsperson is the gender-neutral form now preferred in job advertisements and official documents. Drafter is slightly more informal and common in American English, often used in everyday conversation. A CAD technician does similar work but always uses computer software (CAD = computer-aided design), whereas a draftsperson may still produce drawings by hand in some settings. Architect is a different profession altogether: an architect conceives the overall design, while a draftsperson turns that vision into precise technical drawings. Compare: 'The architect sketched the shape of the bridge' versus 'The draftsperson produced the detailed plans showing every steel beam and bolt.'
Formed from draft (a preliminary sketch or technical plan, from Middle English draught, related to draw) and -person, a gender-neutral agent suffix that replaced -man or -woman. The word became common in the late 20th century when many English-speaking countries adopted gender-neutral job titles in official use.