“Draftsman” or “Draughtsman”—What's the difference?

Usage by country

Where each spelling is used

Of the 12 countries below, 5 prefer “draftsman” and 4 prefer “draughtsman”. Usage levels are out of 100; the more common spelling in each country is in bold.

Usage level out of 100 (if available).
Country	draftsman	draughtsman	Preference
United States	85	15	“draftsman”
United Kingdom	41	59	“draughtsman”
India	46	54	“draughtsman”
Philippines	95	5	“draftsman”
Canada	85	15	“draftsman”
Australia	90	10	“draftsman”
Liberia	0	0	Not enough data
Ireland	40	60	“draughtsman”
New Zealand	55	45	“draftsman”
Jamaica	0	0	Not enough data
Trinidad & Tobago	0	100	“draughtsman”
Guyana	0	0	Not enough data

Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“draftsman”

…United States Steel as a draftsman.
He studied as a draftsman in the local architectural firms…
…of George Gibbes Mayo, a draftsman and later a civil engineer,…
The senior draftsman for the design of the…
…considered to be a master draftsman, was interested in the Italian…
…and worked as a carpenter, draftsman, and cargo boat builder and…
Francesco Antonio Bufalini, Italian draftsman, copper plate engraver and architect
…into railway engineering becoming a draftsman.
…a truck driver and a draftsman.
…Bonnett Wight (1838–1925), the head draftsman in Thomas R. Jackson's firm,…

“draughtsman”

…a Romantic German painter and draughtsman
…Azerbaijani and Russian painter and draughtsman, vice-president of the Russian Academy…
(1798–1875) a Dutch painter, draughtsman and botanical illustrator
…Machine Company, eventually becoming chief draughtsman.
…was a Paraguayan painter and draughtsman.
He practised as a parliamentary draughtsman and was a J.P. for
…quoted as remarking that his draughtsmanship was "unsurpassed" and John Singer…
…is an English painter and draughtsman.
…Farey, English mechanical engineer and draughtsman (died 1829)
…attention of German architect and draughtsman Colonel Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, for…

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license.

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