sailor

See also: Sailor

English

A group of sailors. (1)

The side of a brick which is a sailor. (2)

Alternative forms

• sailour (obsolete)

Etymology

Alteration of earlier sailer, from Middle English sailer, sayler, saylere, equivalent to sail +‎ -or. Cognate with German Segler (“sailor”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English marinel, marynell (“sailor”) borrowed from Old French marinel (“sailor”). See mariner.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈseɪ.lɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈseɪ.lə/
• Hyphenation: sail‧or

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪlə(ɹ)

Noun

sailor (plural sailors)

1. A person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft.

   Synonyms: seafarer, seaman, mariner

   He's a talented sailor and has spent many years at sea.

   1. In particular, a member of the crew of a (civilian or military) vessel, as opposed to a captain, admiral, etc.; a mariner; a common seaman.
      • 1873, Jules Verne, chapter I, in [anonymous], transl., Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas; […], James R. Osgood edition, Boston, Mass.: Geo[rge] M[urray] Smith & Co., →OCLC, part I, page 3:

        Merchants, common sailors, captains of vessels, skippers, […] naval officers of all countries, and the Governments of several states on the two continents, were deeply interested in the matter.

      • 2008, Cécile Corbel (lyrics and music), “Mary”, in Songbook vol. 2‎^[1] (CD), performed by Cécile Corbel, Brittany: Keltia Musique:

        Mary is a sailor
        dreaming of northern shores
        lost galleons on the sea
        Mary ever on her way

   2. A person who sails sailing boats (as opposed to boats powered by other means) as a sport or recreation.

      Coordinate term: yachtsman

2. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genera Neptis, Pseudoneptis and Phaedyma, having white markings on a dark base and commonly flying by gliding.
3. A stiff straw hat with a flat, circular brim and a low, flat crown.
   • 1909, Albert E. Edgar, How to Advertise a Retail Store, Including Mail Order Advertising and General Advertising: A Complete and Comprehensive Manual for Promoting Publicity, page 332:

     Straw Sailors. Children's large-leaf straw sailors, in new shapes, smooth or rough straw . Sizes 6 to 64. 80c, $1.00, $1.50 and $2.00. Milan sailors in new, large shapes, with white or cream ribbon.

   • 2023 October 20, Harry Inwards, Straw Hats: Their history and manufacture, Good Press:

     […] the trade that was done for some year in sailors for ladies. […] Developments of a fancifu nature in the brim formation in the direction of what is known as a "Breton" sailor, of which the characteristic is a slightly upturned edge, were the first to be made, […] But to-day, with the exception of straw sailors for girls and young ladies at school, there is very little demand for hats of this description.

4. A brick, for example in a course of brickwork, that is laid vertically on its shortest end (smallest face), with its widest face facing the outside of the wall.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:sailor

Derived terms

• a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor
• blue sailor
• by-the-wind sailor
• curse like a sailor
• mouth of a sailor
• paper sailor
• ragged sailor
• rosewater sailor
• roving sailor
• sailor dive
• sailoress
• sailor-fish
• sailor fuku
• sailor hat
• sailor plant
• sailor-proof
• sailor's eyeball
• sailor skirt
• sailor suit
• swear like a sailor
• trailer sailor
• turnpike sailor
• wandering sailor

 

Translations

worker on a ship, seafarer, mariner

• Afar: doniki num
• Akan: please add this translation if you can
• Akkadian: 𒈣𒁻 m (MA₂LAH₄ /⁠malāḫu⁠/)
• Albanian: detar (sq) m, marinar (sq) m, lundërtar (sq) m
• Arabic: بَحَّار m (baḥḥār), بَحْرِيّ m (baḥriyy)
• Aramaic:

  Palestinian: מַלָּחָא m (mallāḥā), נַוְטָא m (nawṭā)

  Syriac: ܡܠܚܐ m (mallāḥā), ܢܘܛܐ m (nawṭā)

• Armenian: նավաստի (hy) (navasti)

  Modern Armenian: նավաստի (hy) (navasti), նավազ (hy) (navaz)

  Old Armenian: նաւաստի (nawasti), նաւազ (nawaz)

• Assamese: নাৱিক (nawik)
• Asturian: marineru m, marín (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: dənizçi (az)
• Belarusian: матро́с m (matrós), мара́к m (marák), марапла́вец m (maraplávjec)
• Bengali: নাবিক (bn) (nabik), মাল্লা (bn) (malla)
• Breton: martolod (br) m
• Bulgarian: моря́к (bg) m (morják), матро́с (bg) m (matrós), морепла́вател (bg) m (moreplávatel)
• Burmese: ခလာသီ (my) (hka.lasi), သင်္ဘောသား (my) (sangbhau:sa:)
• Catalan: marí (ca) m, mariner (ca) m, marinera (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 水手 (zh) (shuǐshǒu), 海員／海员 (zh) (hǎiyuán)

• Chukchi: лельутвыткульын (lelʹutvytkulʹyn), аӈӄаляйвыльын (aṇqaljajvylʹyn)
• Coptic:

  Bohairic: ⲛⲉϥ m (nef)

  Sahidic: ⲛⲉⲉϥ m (neef)

• Czech: námořník (cs) m, mariňák m, mořeplavec (cs) m
• Danish: matros c, sømand (da) c
• Dutch: matroos (nl) m, zeeman (nl) m
• Early Assamese: কাণ্ডাৰ (kaṇḍaro)
• Egyptian: (sqd)
• Esperanto: maristo (eo), maristino (female)
• Estonian: madrus (et), meremees
• Faroese: sjómaður m
• Finnish: matruusi (fi), merimies (fi)
• French: matelot (fr) m, matelote (fr) f, femme matelot f, femme-matelot f, marin (fr) m, femme marin f, femme-marin f
• Galician: mariñeiro (gl) m, mariñeira f
• Georgian: მეზღვაური (mezɣvauri)
• German: Matrose (de) m, Matrosin (de) f, Seemann (de) m, Seefrau (de) f, Seemännin f
• Greek: ναύτης (el) m (náftis), ναυτικός (el) m (naftikós)

  Ancient: ναύτης m (naútēs), (Poetic) ναυτίλος m (nautílos)

• Gujarati: ખલાસી m (khalāsī), વહાણવટી m (vahāṇavṭī), જહાજી m (jahājī), નાવિક m (nāvik), મલ્લાહ m (mallāh)
• Hawaiian: kelamoku, holomoku
• Hebrew: מַלָּח (he) m (malákh), יוֹרֵד יָם (he) m (yored yam)
• Hindi: नाविक (hi) m (nāvik), मल्लाह (hi) m (mallāh), जहाज़ी m (jahāzī), माँझी (hi) m (māñjhī), केवट (hi) m (kevaṭ), लशकर (hi) m (laśkar), लश्कर m (laśkar), ख़लासी m (xalāsī)
• Hungarian: matróz (hu), tengerész (hu), hajós (hu)
• Icelandic: sjómaður (is) m, sjóari m
• Ido: maristo (io)
• Igala: please add this translation if you can
• Igbo: ọnye n'asọ ụgbọ mmịrị
• Indonesian: pelayar (id), pelaut (id), kelasi (id)
• Ingrian: merimees
• Irish: maraí m
• Istriot: mareîtimo m
• Italian: marinaio (it) m, marinaia (it) f, marittimo (it) m, marittima (it) f, navigante (it) m or f, navigatore (it) m, navigatrice (it) f
• Japanese: 船員 (ja) (せんいん, sen'in), 水夫 (ja) (すいふ, suifu), 船乗り (ja) (ふなのり, funanori), 水兵 (ja) (すいへい, suihei), セーラー (ja) (sērā), 海員 (ja) (かいいん, kaiin)
• Kazakh: теңізші (teñızşı), кемеші (kemeşı)
• Khmer: កម្មករនាវា (kamkɑɑ niəviə), នាវិក (km) (niəvɨk), នាវិកា (km) (niəvikaa) (female)
• Korean: 선원(船員) (ko) (seonwon), 수병(水兵) (ko) (subyeong), 수부(水夫) (subu), 해원(海員) (ko) (haewon)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: deryavan (ku)

• Kyrgyz: деңизчи (deŋizci), моряк (moryak), матрос (matros)
• Lao: ກະລາສີ (lo) (ka lā sī), ນາວິກ (nā wik)
• Latin: nauta (la) m, nāvita (la) m; marinarius, marinellus (Medieval)
• Latvian: jūrnieks m, jūrniece f, kuģinieks m, kuģiniece f, matrozis m
• Ligurian: mainâ m
• Lithuanian: jūreivis m, jūreivė f
• Macedonian: морнар m (mornar), морепло́вец m (moreplóvec)
• Malagasy: baharia (mg)
• Malay: anak kapal (ms), kelasi (ms)
• Malayalam: ഖലാസി (ml) (khalāsi)
• Maltese: baħri m
• Manx: marrinagh m
• Maori: kauhoe, kaumoana, heramana (transliteration from English)
• Marathi: खलाशी m (khalāśī)
• Middle English: schipman, mariner
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: далайчин (mn) (dalajčin)

• Navajo: táłkááʼ siláo, chʼah łigai
• Neapolitan: marenaro m
• Norman: frégatîn m (Jersey), navidgant m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: matros m, sjømann m

  Nynorsk: matros m, sjømann m

• Occitan: marinièr (oc) m
• Odia: ନାବିକ (or) (nābika)
• Old East Slavic: морꙗнинъ m (morjaninŭ)
• Old English: sċipmann m
• Old Galician-Portuguese: marinneiro m
• Oromo: please add this translation if you can
• Ottoman Turkish: كمیجی (gemici)
• Palauan: chad er a diall
• Pali: nāvika m
• Pashto: ماڼګى m (maṇgay), ملاح m (malāh)
• Persian: مَلَوان (fa), ملاح (fa) (malâh), بحری (fa) (bahri), خلاشی (xalâši)
• Plautdietsch: Matroos m
• Polish: marynarz (pl) m, żeglarz (pl) m, żeglarka (pl) f
• Portuguese: marinheiro (pt) m, marujo (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਜਹਾਜ਼ੀ m (jahāzī), ਮਲਾਹ m (malāh), ਜਹਾਜ਼ਰਾਨ m (jahāzrān)
• Romanian: marinar (ro) m, matelot (ro) m, matroz (ro) m, marinăriță (ro) f
• Russian: матро́с (ru) m (matrós), моря́к (ru) m (morják), морепла́ватель (ru) m (moreplávatelʹ)
• Saho: naakuda
• Sanskrit: नाविक (sa) m (nāvika)
• Scottish Gaelic: seòladair m, loingear m, muireach m, maraiche m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мо̀рна̄р m, по̀морац m, морепло́вац m

  Roman: mòrnār (sh) m, pòmorac (sh) m, moreplóvac (sh) m

• Sindhi: سيلاني ?
• Slovak: námornik m, moreplavec m
• Slovene: mornár (sl) m, mornárka f
• Somali: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: marinero (es) m, marinera f
• Sumerian: 𒈣𒁺𒁺 (MA₂LAH₅ /⁠malah⁠/)
• Swahili: baharia (sw) class 5/6
• Swedish: matros (sv) c, sjöman (sv) c
• Tajik: маллоҳ (malloh), баҳрӣ (tg) (bahri), баҳрчӣ (bahrči), дарёнавард (daryonavard)
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can
• Tarifit: abeḥri m
• Telugu: నావికుడు (te) m (nāvikuḍu)
• Thai: กะลาสี (th) (gà-laa-sǐi), ลูกเรือ (th) (lûuk-rʉʉa), ทหารเรือ (th) (tá-hǎan-rʉʉa), นาวิก (naa-wík)
• Tigre: please add this translation if you can
• Tigrinya: please add this translation if you can
• Tok Pisin: boskru
• Turkish: gemici (tr), mellah (tr), kalyoncu (tr), denizci (tr) sg
• Turkmen: deňizçi
• Ukrainian: моря́к m (morják), матро́с m (matrós), морепла́вець (uk) m (moreplávecʹ)
• Urdu: ملاح m (mallāh), خلاصی m (xalāsī)
• Uyghur: دېڭىزچى (dë'ngizchi), ماتروس (matros)
• Uzbek: dengizchi (uz), matros (uz)
• Vietnamese: thuỷ thủ (vi), lính thuỷ (vi)
• Volapük: melan (vo)
• Welsh: morwr (cy) m
• Wolof: please add this translation if you can
• Yiddish: שיפֿער m (shifer), שיפֿערין f (shiferin)
• Yoruba: atukọ̀

person who sails as a sport

• Danish: sejler (da) c
• Galician: mariñeiro (gl) m
• Hebrew: שַׁיָּט (he) m (shayat)
• Hungarian: vitorlázó (hu)
• Italian: navigatore (it) m, velista (it) m
• Latvian: burātājs m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: seiler m, segler m

  Nynorsk: seglar m, siglar m

• Polish: żeglarz (pl) m, żeglarka (pl) f

See also

• sailor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• lascar

Anagrams

• Lorias, Losari, Solari