boatswain

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From late Old English bātsweġen, from bāt (boat) + Old Norse sveinn (boy), equivalent to boat + swain (boy, servant).[1]

Pronunciation

  • (US, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈboʊ.sən/
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbəʊsn̩/

Noun

boatswain (plural boatswains)

  1. The officer (or warrant officer) in charge of sails, rigging, anchors, cables etc. and all work on deck of a sailing ship.
  2. The petty officer of a merchant ship who controls the work of other seamen.
  3. A kind of gull, the jaeger.
  4. The tropicbird.

Translations

References

  1. boatswain”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
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