iceman

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH-

Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH-so-der.

Proto-Germanic *īsą

Proto-West Germanic *īs

Old English īs

Middle English is

English ice

Proto-Indo-European *mon-

Proto-Germanic *mann-

Proto-West Germanic *mann

Old English mann

Middle English man

Middle English -man

English -man

English iceman

From ice + -man.

Pronunciation

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Noun

iceman (plural icemen)

1. (historical) A person who trades in ice; a person employed to deliver block ice to those lacking electric refrigeration.
2. A man who is skilled in travelling upon ice, as among glaciers.
   • 1862, Edward Shirley Kennedy, Peaks, passes, and glaciers, volume 1, page 241:

     We were accompanied by our two guides, Jean Baptiste Croz and Michel Croz, of Chamounix, two capital icemen, and worthy fellows.

3. A human figure carved out of ice.
4. An ancient human male mummified in ice.
5. (slang) An assassin.
6. (slang) One who is cool under pressure.
   • 2019, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Ruin, Macmillan, pages 267–268:

     Baltiel had always been the iceman, harsh and distant and lacking in sentiment.

7. (dated) A man in attendance at a frozen pond where skating etc. is going on.

Derived terms

• icemanship

Translations

a person who trades in ice

• Danish: ismand (da)
• Greek: παγοπώλης (el) m (pagopólis)
• Hungarian: jeges (hu)
• Turkish: buzcu (tr)

assassin

• French: assassin (fr) m

one who is cool under pressure

Anagrams

• Mencia, anemic, came in, cinema