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• mariner
  mariner

  noun

  a person who directs or assists in the navigation of a ship; sailor.
• Mariner
  Mariner

  noun

  any of a series of US space probes launched between 1962 and 1971 that sent back photographs and information concerning the surface of Mars and Venus and also studied interplanetary matter

mariner

American  

[mar-uh-ner] / ˈmær ə nər /

noun

1. a person who directs or assists in the navigation of a ship; sailor.

   Synonyms:

   seafarer

2. (initial capital letter) one of a series of U.S. space probes that obtained scientific information while flying by or orbiting around the planets Mars, Mercury, and Venus.

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Mariner ¹ British  

/ ˈmærɪnə /

noun

1. any of a series of US space probes launched between 1962 and 1971 that sent back photographs and information concerning the surface of Mars and Venus and also studied interplanetary matter

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mariner ² British  

/ ˈmærɪnə /

noun

1. a formal or literary word for seaman

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Usage

What does mariner mean? A mariner is a sailor, especially a professional one. The word sailor is used much more commonly than mariner, which often sounds formal or old-fashioned. Mariner is sometimes used as a more poetic word for sailor, much like its synonym seafarer. In literature, the word is associated with its use in the title of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 1798 epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which is considered highly influential and a landmark of Romantic literature. It is in fact about a sailor. Mariner was also the name of a NASA program involving a series of probes (which were also each named Mariner along with a number) launched to gather information while orbiting Mars, Venus, and Mercury. The word also appears in the name of the Seattle Mariners baseball team—a reference to Seattle’s heritage as a port city. Example: The seaside pub was frequented by salty old mariners.

Synonym Usage

See sailor.

Etymology

Origin of mariner

First recorded in 1250–1300 mariner for def. 1; mariner for def. 2 1960–65; Middle English, from Anglo-French; Old French marinier. See marine, -er ²

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Explanation

A mariner is someone who works on a boat or ship. A lobsterman who works alone on a small boat is a mariner, and so is the captain of an enormous cargo ship. Mariner is a somewhat old-fashioned word for a sailor or seafarer, a person who spends most of their working life on some kind of ocean vessel. Today, you're more likely to read about mariners in an old book than to meet people who describes themselves this way. Mariner comes from the Latin word marinus, "of the sea," and its root, mare, "the sea."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mariner Mariner

"I tried to stay calm because I was responsible for 31 lives, a ship worth $40 million, and cargo valued at $8.2 million," the 51-year-old Bangladeshi mariner told AFP, back home after the ordeal.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

MINNEAPOLIS—Joe Martino, a 52-year-old merchant mariner, braved swirling snow and biting winds on a recent afternoon as he walked up and down Lake Street in search of tacos.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026

Once hunted extensively for turtle soup, its eggs as a delicacy and decorative shells, the ancient mariner saw its numbers plummet and has been listed as endangered since the 1980s.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2025

The example of Francis Mackey, the Halifax mariner who was blamed for the disaster, is a reminder that emotionally charged finger-pointing in the aftermath of a catastrophe often finds the wrong lightning rod.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2025

"Is it Marin like mariner, or Marin like the county."

From "We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour

The Murriyang radio telescope, located in Parkes, New South Wales, helped track Mariner 2 in 1962.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

Speaking after the meeting, Deputy Chief Constable Andy Mariner, the National Police Chiefs Council lead for public order, said forces were "continually assessing and preparing for protests and any potential impact on public safety".

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

“I wonder if the Ancient Mariner in his latter days got really tired of rehearsing his old trauma,” she ruminated in an essay.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026

By Jacob Soboroff Mariner Books: 272 pages, $30 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2026

This second meaning we owe to the poetic license of Mr. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, whose famous poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner contained just such a creature.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

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