merman
noun
merman is spelled M-E-R-M-A-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,714th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, merman means “A legendary creature, human male from the waist up, fishlike from the waist down” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of merman is mermen.
How many letters and syllables are in merman?
| Letters | 6: M-E-R-M-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 58,714th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is merman?
Merman appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,714th 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).
How do you pronounce merman?
Merman has 2 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-merman.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of merman
- mermen plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does merman mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A legendary creature, human male from the waist up, fishlike from the waist down.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Merman in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense legendary creature:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | triton |
| German | Wassermann |
| Portuguese | tritão, sereio |
| Spanish | tritón |
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 merman come from?
From Middle English mereman, from Old English *meremann (“merman”) (suggested by Old English meremenn, meremennen, meremenin (“mermaid, siren”)), equivalent to mer- + man. Cognate with Dutch meerman (“merman”), German Meermann (“merman”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).