sailor
sail·or/ˈseɪ.lɚ/noun
sailor is spelled S-A-I-L-O-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables (sail·or). It appears 6.0 times per million words in written English, the 9,878th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sailor means “A person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sailor is sailors.
How many letters and syllables are in sailor?
| Letters | 6: S-A-I-L-O-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: sail·or |
| In writing | 6.0 times per million words; the 9,878th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is sailor?
Sailor appears 6.0 times per million words in written English, the 9,878th 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 sailor?
- US /ˈseɪ.lɚ/
- UK /ˈseɪ.lə/
Sailor has 2 syllables, split sail·or in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sailor.ogg, En-uk-sailor.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with sailor?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as sailor from its last stressed vowel (/eɪləɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of sailor
- sailors plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sailor mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft.
He's a talented sailor and has spent many years at sea.
- 2
In particular, a member of the crew of a (civilian or military) vessel, as opposed to a captain, admiral, etc.; a mariner; a common seaman.
- 3
A person who sails sailing boats (as opposed to boats powered by other means) as a sport or recreation.
- 4
Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genera Neptis, Pseudoneptis and Phaedyma, having white markings on a dark base and commonly flying by gliding.
- 5
A stiff straw hat with a flat, circular brim and a low, flat crown.
- 6
A brick, for example in a course of brickwork, that is laid vertically on its shortest end (smallest face), with its widest face facing the outside of the wall.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sailor in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense worker on a ship, seafarer, mariner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | matelot, matelote, femme matelot, femme-matelot, marin, femme marin |
| German | Matrose, Matrosin, Seemann, Seefrau, Seemännin |
| Portuguese | marinheiro, marujo |
| Spanish | marinero, marinera, marino, marinante, grumete, nauta |
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 sailor come from?
Alteration of earlier sailer, from Middle English sailer, sayler, saylere, equivalent to sail + -or. Cognate with German Segler (“sailor”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English marinel, marynell (“sailor”) borrowed from Old French marinel (“sailor”). See mariner.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).