waterman
See also: Waterman
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English waterman, equivalent to water + man.
Noun[edit]
waterman (plural watermen)
- (obsolete) A seaman, a sailor.
- A man who lives or works on the water; a boatman.
- Someone who distributes or supplies water for a living; a water-carrier.
- 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber 1992, p. 105:
- An elderly sheik shared this little ceremony with us, and afterwards benignly gave the waterman a coin and made him spurt scented water on his face and beard.
- 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber 1992, p. 105:
- (dated) Specifically, an attendant on cab stands who supplies water to the horses.
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1836, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers 2
- ‘Here you are, sir,’ shouted a strange specimen of the human race, in a sackcloth coat, and apron of the same, who, with a brass label and number round his neck, looked as if he were catalogued in some collection of rarities. This was the waterman.
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- (surfing) A man skilled in multiple aquatic sports disciplines, such as surfing, bodysurfing, undersea diving, canoe paddling, fishing, etc.
Usage notes[edit]
- Describing someone as a waterman is the highest honour in the surfing community, reserved for those with long-standing and indisputably significant all-round achievements.
Related terms[edit]
References[edit]
- Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
Dutch[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From water (“water”) + man (“man”).
Pronunciation[edit]
-
Audio (file)
Noun[edit]
waterman m (plural watermannen, diminutive watermannetje n)
Usage notes[edit]
Not to be confused with Waterman ("Aquarius, the eleventh astrological sign in the Zodiac").
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English compound words
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English dated terms
- en:Surfing
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- en:People
- Dutch compound words
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -en