landsman

¹ American  

[landz-muhn] / ˈlændz mən /

noun

plural

landsmen

1. Also a person who lives or works on land.

2. an inexperienced sailor or one who has not been to sea before.

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landsman ² American  

[lahnts-muhn] / ˈlɑnts mən /

noun

Yiddish.

plural

landsleit,

plural

landsmen

1. a person from the same town, geographical area, region, etc., as another; compatriot.

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landsman ¹ British  

/ ˈlændzmən /

noun

1. a person who works or lives on land, as distinguished from a seaman

2. a person with no experience at sea

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landsman ² British  

/ ˈlændzmən /

noun

1. a Jewish compatriot from the same area of origin as another

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Gender

See -man.

Etymology

Origin of landsman

before 1000 for sense “native”; Middle English landes man, londes man, Old English landes mann; see land, 's ¹, -man

Example Sentences

She married a landsman, who became a diamond merchant; in the early nineteen-fifties, the couple resettled in the Bronx, and some fifteen years later, as empty-nesters, they went back to Israel.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 8, 2017

He had the tolerance of a landsman, the faith that comes with witnessing the changing seasons year in and year out.

From Time • Jul. 25, 2012

Washington had the tolerance of a landsman, the faith that comes with witnessing the changing seasons year in and year out, the sensitivity that accumulates from watching buds burst and colts grow.

From Time Magazine Archive

Harry became a landsman, and took up pharmacy.

From Time Magazine Archive

Farmer, goatherd, cattleherd, hunter or artisan, the landsman looks at the ocean as at a salt unsteady realm that has nothing to do with him at all.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

• compatriot