Noun: seaman
| Singular | seaman |
| Plural | seamen |
Sample Sentences
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But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea. […] Conditions were horrendous aboard most British naval vessels at the time. Scurvy and other diseases ran rampant, killing more seamen each year than all other causes combined, including combat. [2012 March 26, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 18 Apr 2012, page 87:]
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, Book III
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not to mention what is confidently reported of mermaids, or sea-men
Nouns inflected like seaman
whipman,
slaughterman,
seaman,
sawman,
saxman,
sanman,
headswoman,
kettleman,
given man,
skyman,
Manilaman,
boogyman,
brotherman,
beadman,
transgentleman,
baggageman,
first gentleman,
bedeman,
boothman,
hackneyman, etc. (List truncated at 20 nouns)
Etymology
From Middle English seeman, seman, from Old English sǣmann. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Seemon (“seaman, sailor”), West Frisian seeman (“seaman, sailor”), Dutch zeeman (“seaman, sailor”), German Low German Seemann (“seaman, sailor”), German Seemann (“seaman, sailor”), Swedish sjöman (“seaman, sailor”), Norwegian sjømann (“seaman, sailor”). Equivalent to sea + -man. See: Middle English Nouns '
seeman', Old English Nouns '
sǣmann', Dutch Nouns '
zeeman', German Nouns '
Seemann', Swedish Nouns '
sjöman'.