Meaning

noun a man who serves as a sailor

noun muckraking United States journalist who exposed bad conditions in mental institutions (1867-1922)

originFrom Middle English seeman, seman, from Old English sǣmann. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Seemon (“seaman, sailor”), West Frisian seeman (“seaman, sailor”), Dutch zeeman (“seaman, sailor”), German Low German Seemann (“seaman, sailor”), German Seemann (“seaman, sailor”), Swedish sjöman (“seaman, sailor”), Norwegian sjømann (“seaman, sailor”). Equivalent to sea + -man.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0