One of a group of people involved in machine-wrecking riots in N England 1811–16. The organizer of the Luddites was referred to as General Ludd, but may not have existed. Many Luddites were hanged or transported to penal colonies, such as Australia.
The movement, which began in Nottinghamshire and spread to Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Yorkshire, was primarily a revolt against the unemployment caused by the introduction of machines in the Industrial Revolution.
1. Any opponent of technological progress.
2. One of the 19th century English workman who destroyed labor-saving machinery that they thought would cause unemployment.
A person opposed to technological advances, especially those designed to replace human skill and experience with automated machinery. The first Luddites were bands of textile workers in Nottinghamshire, England, who protested the use of new large-scale machinery, which they blamed for low wages and high unemployment. The origin of the term has never been verified, but the most popular theory is that the name derives from Ned Ludd, an apprentice knitter who destroyed his knitting frame with a hammer to protest beatings by his master. See also technophobe. Compare technophile.