"one who cards wool, etc., for spinning," mid-15c. (mid-14c. as a surname), agent noun from card (v.2).
Entries linking to carder
card v.2
"to comb wool," late 14c., from card (n.2) or else from Old French carder, from Old Provençal cardar "to card," from Vulgar Latin *caritare, from Latin carrere "to clean or comb with a card," perhaps from PIE root *kars- "to scrape" (see harsh). Related: Carded; carding.