[luhd-ahyt] 
| a member of any of various bands of workers in England (1811–16) organized to destroy manufacturing machinery, under the belief that its use diminished employment. |
| Lud·dite (lŭd'īt) n.
[After Ned Ludd, an English laborer who was supposed to have destroyed weaving machinery around 1779.] Lud'dism n. |
Opponents of the introduction of labor-saving machinery. The original Luddites, followers of a legendary Ned Ludd, were British laborers of the early nineteenth century who smashed textile-making machines that threatened their jobs.
Note: Contemporary opponents of technological change are sometimes called “Luddites.”
