ferryman
/ˈfɛɹ.i.mən/noun
ferryman is a noun meaning “A man who operates a ferry” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled F-E-R-R-Y-M-A-N and has 3 syllables, and it appears about once in every 6 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of ferryman is ferrymen.
What does ferryman mean?
noun
- 1
A man who operates a ferry.
- 2
Charon.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce ferryman?
- US /ˈfɛɹ.i.mən/
- Australia /ˈfeɹ.i.mən/
Ferryman has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ferryman.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ferryman
- ferrymen plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is ferryman?
Ferryman appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 73,203rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Words people confuse with ferryman
Also written: ferry-man (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Ferryman in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense man who operates a ferry:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | batelier, nocher, passeur |
| German | Fährmann, Ferge |
| Portuguese | balseiro |
| Spanish | barquero, balsero |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ferryman come from?
From ferry + -man.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).