mariner

[mar-uh-ner]

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.

Mariner

¹

/ 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

mariner

²

/ ˈmærɪnə /

noun

1. a formal or literary word for seaman

Word History and Origins

Origin of mariner¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of mariner¹

C13: from Anglo-French, ultimately from Latin marīnus _marine

Synonym Study

See sailor.

Example Sentences

It reminded her of the line from Mr. Coleridge’s strange poem about the ancient mariner and the albatross.

Read more on Literature

Despite the storm and the treacherous waters, Kontos, a skilled mariner, managed to guide his two boats to shelter in Antikythera’s only harbor, a small cove on its northern coast called Potamos.

Read more on Literature

Training materials such as the magnetic compass housing, the fire locker and the emergency equipment locker - with all their contents - have been donated to City of Glasgow College to help prepare future generations of mariners.

Read more on BBC

Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, stands just to the right of center and, to the right of him, a large eye hovers, a symbol to ward off evil and protect the mariners.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Lynch said Hanwha could also help address another obstacle to expanding America’s commercial shipping fleet: a shortage of merchant mariners.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

When To Use

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.