Meanings
sportsman1
nounsportsman (plural sportsmen)
plural sportsmen
- UKA man who engages in sports; an athlete.
In both cases the female sportsmen were Nordic skiers.
2008, Atko Viru, Adaptation in Sports Training, Informa Healthcare USA, New York, p. 227 (Chapter 9: Gender Differences in Training Effects, sub-chapter Metabolic Capacities in male and female Athletes)1 more example
On the contrary, the difference between the worse male and female sportsmen was 54 ms. Among the male sportsmen [...]. Among the female sportsmen [...]
2014, Libor Flemr, Jiří Němec, Kateřina Kudláčková, editors, Physical activity in science and practice: Conference Proceedings | In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Charles University in Prague [Prague, 19-21 June 2013], page 237 - datedA man who engages in country sports, such as hunting or fishing.
At last extinguishing the fire, he took the idol up very unceremoniously, and bagged it again in his grego pocket as carelessly as if he were a sportsman bagging a dead woodcock.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 3”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC - A man who exhibits good sportsmanship, or who exhibits sportsmanship as specified (good or bad).
Sportsman2
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
sportsman · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
- Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
- Proto-Indo-European*d(w)is-
- Proto-Italic*dis-
- Latindis-
- Old Frenchdes-
- Proto-Indo-European*per-
- Proto-Indo-European*pr̥téh₂
- Proto-Italic*portā
- Proto-Italic*portāō
- Latinportāre
- Old Frenchporter
- Anglo-Normandesporter
- Middle Englishdisporten
- Middle Englishsporten
- Englishsport
- Englishsports
- Proto-Indo-European*mon-
- Proto-Germanic*mann-
- Proto-West Germanic*mann
- Old Englishmann
- Middle Englishman
- Englishsportsman
Sportsman · proper noun
- DutchSportmans
- EnglishSportsman
Possibly an altered form of Dutch Sportmans.
More words from Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic رِيَاضِيّ
- رِيَاضِيّ (riyāḍiyy)(male) athlete
Bulgarian спорти́ст, атле́т
- спорти́ст (sportíst)(male) athlete
- атле́т (atlét)(male) athlete
- спортсме́н (sportsmén)(male) athlete
Chinese Mandarin 運動員 /运动员
- 運動員 /运动员 (yùndòngyuán)(male) athlete
Czech sportovec
- sportovec(male) athlete
Danish sportsmand, idrætsmand
- sportsmand(male) athlete
- idrætsmand(male) athlete
Dutch sportman
- sportman(male) athlete
Esperanto sportisto
- sportisto(male) athlete
Estonian sportlane
- sportlane(male) athlete
Finnish urheilija, erämies
- urheilija(male) athlete
- erämiesman who engages in country sports
French sportif, athlète
- sportif(male) athlete
- athlète(male) athlete
German Sportler, Athlet
- Sportler(male) athlete
- Athlet(male) athlete
Greek αθλητικός τύπος, αθλητικός
- αθλητικός τύπος (athlitikós týpos)(male) athlete
- αθλητικός (athlitikós)(male) athlete
- αθλητής (athlitís)(male) athlete
Hebrew סְפּוֹרְטַאי
- סְפּוֹרְטַאי (sportái)(male) athlete
Hindi खिलाड़ी
- खिलाड़ी (khilāṛī)(male) athlete
Hungarian sportoló
- sportoló(male) athlete
Icelandic íþróttamaður
- íþróttamaður(male) athlete
Indonesian olahragawan
- olahragawan(male) athlete
Italian sportivo
- sportivo(male) athlete
Japanese 運動選手, 選手
- 運動選手 (undō senshu)(male) athlete
- 選手 (senshu)(male) athlete
- スポーツ選手 (supōtsu senshu)(male) athlete
- スポーツマン (supōtsuman)(male) athlete
Korean 운동선수, 선수
- 운동선수 (undongseonsu)(male) athlete
- 선수 (seonsu)(male) athlete
- 스포츠 선수 (seupocheu seonsu)(male) athlete
- 스포츠맨 (seupocheumaen)(male) athlete
Latvian sportists, atlēts
- sportists(male) athlete
- atlēts(male) athlete
Lithuanian sportininkas
- sportininkas(male) athlete
Malay olahragawan, ahli sukan
- olahragawan(male) athlete
- ahli sukan(male) athlete
- atlet(male) athlete
Norwegian Bokmål idrettsmann
- idrettsmann(male) athlete
Polish sportowiec, sportsmen
- sportowiec(male) athlete
- sportsmen(male) athlete
- atleta(male) athlete
- sportowiec uczestniczący w sportach wiejskichman who engages in country sports
Portuguese esportivo, esportista
- esportivo(male) athlete
- esportista(male) athlete
Romanian sportiv, atlet
- sportiv(male) athlete
- atlet(male) athlete
Russian спортсме́н, атле́т
- спортсме́н (sportsmén)(male) athlete
- атле́т (atlét)(male) athlete
Slovak športovec
- športovec(male) athlete
Spanish deportista
- deportista(male) athlete
Swedish idrottsman, idrottare
- idrottsman(male) athlete
- idrottare(male) athlete
Thai นักกีฬา
- นักกีฬา (nák-gii-laa)(male) athlete
Turkish sporcu
- sporcu(male) athlete
Ukrainian спортсме́н, спорто́вець
- спортсме́н (sportsmén)(male) athlete
- спорто́вець (sportóvecʹ)(male) athlete
- атле́т (atlét)(male) athlete
Urdu کِھلاڑی
- کِھلاڑی (khilāṛī)(male) athlete
Vietnamese vận động viên, nhà thể thao
- vận động viên(male) athlete
- nhà thể thao(male) athlete
Yiddish ספּאָרטסמאַן
- ספּאָרטסמאַן (sportsman)(male) athlete
Cite this entry
APA
sportsman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sportsman
MLA
“sportsman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sportsman. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sportsman,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sportsman.
Source: sportsman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.