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; land, 's ¹, -man

Example Sentences

“He was with a landsman—er, friend, I think? I’m sorry. I don’t know.”

From Literature

“In our area, people want to get back to work, they’re willing to take a business risk on whether or not they catch this” virus, said GOP Rep. James Stricker, an oil landsman from Farmington.

From Washington Times

I think he is trying to communicate with his landsmen using expressions that are unique to a very small population.

From Washington Post

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 Literature

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

Related Words

• compatriot