Etymology The noun is borrowed from Scots caddie (“military cadet; young man; ragamuffin; person engaged to run errands; person hired to assist a golfer”), from French cadet (“army cadet; younger sibling”), from capdet (“captain; chief”) (Gascony, archaic), from Late Latin capitettum, from Latin caput (“head”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“head”). Doublet of cadel, cadet, capital, capitellum, and caudillo. The verb is derived from the noun.
1
Scotland, Also, Obsolete Synonym of cadet (“a gentleman (often a younger son from a noble family) who joined the military without a commission as a career”).
2
Scotland, Archaic, Broadly A young man; a boy, a lad; specifically (derogatory), one regarded as of low social status; a ragamuffin.
But gie him't het, my hearty cocks! / E'en cowe the cadie![1786, Robert Burns, “The Author’s Earnest Cry and Prayer, to the Right Honorable and Honorable, the Scotch Representatives in the House of Commons”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, volume I, Kilmarnock, Scotland: […] John Wilson, →OCLC; reprinted Kilmarnock, Scotland: […] James M‘Kie, 1867, →OCLC, page 35:
3
Scotland, Broadly, Historical A person engaged to run errands such as carrying goods and messages; a commissionaire, an errand boy or errand girl, a gofer; specifically, a member of an organized group of such persons working in large Scottish cities and towns in the early 18th century.
A tattered cadie, or errand porter, whom David Deans had jostled in his attempt to extricate himself from the vicinity of the scorners, exclaimed in a strong north-country tone, "Ta de'il ding out her Cameronian een—what gi'es her titles to dunch gentlemans about?"1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter IX, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 222:
There would be a prosperity such as might seem fabulous, a prosperity of which every Scotchman, from the peer to the cadie, would partake.1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XXIV, in Lady Trevelyan (Hannah More Macaulay), editor, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume V, London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, →OCLC, page 209:
4
Golf, Hobbies, Lifestyle, SportsAlso, Broadly A person hired to assist a golfer by carrying their golf clubs and providing advice.
As caddy I had to carry the clubs, for there are four varieties almost everyone used, and some used more. Besides doing this, the caddy has to keep score of the number of strokes used, and watch and find each ball.1897 (date written), Paul T. B. Ward, quotee, “19th Hole: The Readers Take Over”, in Sports Illustrated, volume 19, number 4, Chicago, Ill.: Time Inc., published 22 July 1963, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 60:
Then Carter Chapman picked out his putter, stepped confidently up to the ball, sighted once along the ground, and made his stroke. The ball rolled straight as a die toward the caddy who was holding the flag, and tinkled into the cup for a birdie three!1921 March, Octavus Roy Cohen, “Follow Through”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LXXII, number 2, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], →OCLC, page 370, column 1:
Etymology The noun is borrowed from Scots caddie (“military cadet; young man; ragamuffin; person engaged to run errands; person hired to assist a golfer”), from French cadet (“army cadet; younger sibling”), from capdet (“captain; chief”) (Gascony, archaic), from Late Latin capitettum, from Latin caput (“head”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“head”). Doublet of cadel, cadet, capital, capitellum, and caudillo. The verb is derived from the noun.
1
Golf, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Chiefly followed by for: to serve as a caddie (noun etymology 1, noun sense 2) for a golfer.
We took turns caddying, one caddying, two playing. We went out across the river to the teeing ground of the first hole.1897 (date written), Paul T. B. Ward, quotee, “19th Hole: The Readers Take Over”, in Sports Illustrated, volume 19, number 4, Chicago, Ill.: Time Inc., published 22 July 1963, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 60:
The next day the thirty-two qualifying players were paired off into sixteen sets of opponents. Charlotte was matched against a girl from California. After the first few minutes, the result was never in doubt. "Take it easy, miss," said the highly gratified Mr. Ogilvie, who was caddying for Charlotte. "You hold her in the hollow of your hand."1917 July, George Weston, chapter VI, in The Apple-tree Girl: The Story of Little Miss Moses, who Led Herself into the Promised Land, Philadelphia, Pa.; London: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, published 1918, →OCLC, page 100:
1 more example
The scheme had been, if I remember, that after lunch I should go off and caddy for Honoria on a shopping tour down Regent Street; but when she got up and started collecting me and the rest of her things, Aunt Agatha stopped her.1923 May 17, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Introducing Claude and Eustace”, in The Inimitable Jeeves, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1979, →ISBN, page 63: