The story
- Old English · inherited from*meremann“merman”
- Middle English · inherited frommereman
- English todaymerman
From Middle English mereman, from Old English *meremann (“merman”) (suggested by Old English meremenn, meremennen, meremenin (“mermaid, siren”)), equivalent to mer- + man. Cognate with Dutch meerman (“merman”), German Meermann (“merman”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.