Lud·dite (l?d??t)n.1. Any of a group of British workers who between 1811 and 1816 rioted and destroyed laborsaving textile machinery in the belief that such machinery would diminish employment.2. One who opposes technical or technological change.[After Ned Ludd, an English laborer who was supposed to have destroyed weaving machinery around 1779.]Lud?dism n.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.Luddite (?l?da?t) n1. (Historical Terms) any of the textile workers opposed to mechanization who rioted and organized machine-breaking between 1811 and 18162. any opponent of industrial change or innovationadj (Historical Terms) of or relating to the Luddites[C19: alleged to be named after Ned Ludd, an 18th-century Leicestershire workman, who destroyed industrial machinery] ?Luddism nCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014Lud?dite (?l?d a?t) n. 1. a member of any of various bands of workers in England (1811?16) who destroyed industrial machinery in the belief that its use diminished employment. 2. any opponent of new technologies or of technological change. [1805?15; after Ned Ludd, 18th-century Leicestershire worker who originated the idea; see -ite1] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.