Etymology

shipman

S1H4I1P3M3A1N1

Today it means: Synonym of sailor. Full definition →

Middle English schipman ← Old English scipmann
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

shipman · noun1

  1. Old English · inherited fromscipmann“shipman, mariner, sailor, rower; one who goes on trading voyages; pirate”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromschipman
  3. English todayshipman

From Middle English schipman, from Old English scipmann (“shipman, mariner, sailor, rower; one who goes on trading voyages; pirate”). Cognate with Icelandic skipmaður, skipamaður (“shipman”). Equivalent to ship + -man. Compare English boatman.

Shipman · proper noun2

Either from sheep + man, or from shipman.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.