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Glite Dictionary
🧑‍✈️ A ship's captain 🧑‍✈️ A sailor
shipman

shipman

9.9
Person who is in charge of a ship, like a captain
  • noun
  • /ˈʃɪpmən/
  • Archaic
translation icon : capitán de barco
  • The shipman stood at the helm, scanning the horizon for land.

Examples

  • The experienced shipman guided his crew safely through the stormy waters.

  • The shipman guided the vessel through the storm.

  • In old tales, a shipman was respected for his knowledge of the sea.

  • Is the shipman ready to set sail?

  • The experienced shipman guided his crew safely through the stormy waters.

  • In old tales, a shipman was respected for his knowledge of the sea.

  • The shipman stood at the helm, scanning the horizon for land.

Synonyms

captain
vsshipman
611 1.1

The person in charge of a ship or aircraft and its crew

is an archaic term limited to maritime leadership not to all vehicles
sea captain
vsshipman
6 3.2

A licensed officer who commands a merchant ship at sea

is an archaic term rather than a modern formal licensed title
rais
vsshipman
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who commands a ship and its crew, often in Mediterranean history

is an archaic term for the same leadership role

Surface Forms

shipman singular
shipmen plural

Morphology

shipman = ship + man (semi-transparent) = ship + man

The compound is structurally clear, but the specific sense 'master or captain of a ship' is a specialized lexicalized meaning rather than a fully predictable one.

Etymology

Shipman comes from Old English parts ship 'boat' and man 'person', and long ago it often meant the person in charge of a ship — the captain. That's why a shipman could mean the master who guided the vessel.