The story
- Old English · inherited fromlādmann“a leader, guide”
- Middle English · inherited fromlodesman, lodesmon, lodysman“pilot”
- English todaylodesman
From Middle English lodesman, lodesmon, lodysman (“pilot”, literally “lode's or course's man”), alteration of earlier lodeman, from Old English lādmann (“a leader, guide”), equivalent to lode (“way, course”) + -s- + man. Compare to lodemanage.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.