seafarer

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"seafarer" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“seafarer” is uncommon English (frequency #87,800 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#87,800
frequency rank, English
54,294
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A sailor or mariner.

Key facts for seafarer
PropertyValue
Headwordseafarer
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#87,800
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “seafarer” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). seafarer lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

seafarer is uncommon English at frequency #87,800 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for seafarer in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English *se-farere (suggested by se-farende, sa farinde (“sea-faring”)) equivalent to sea + farer (“traveler”). Cognate with Middle Dutch seevarer, whence Modern Dutch zeevaarder (“seafarer”), West Frisian seefarder (“seafarer”), German Seefahre… The correct English form is seafarer, spelled S-E-A-F-A-R-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A sailor or mariner.
  2. 2
    One who travels by sea.

Etymology

From Middle English *se-farere (suggested by se-farende, sa farinde (“sea-faring”)) equivalent to sea + farer (“traveler”). Cognate with Middle Dutch seevarer, whence Modern Dutch zeevaarder (“seafarer”), West Frisian seefarder (“seafarer”), German Seefahrer (“seafarer”), Swedish sjöfarare (“seafarer”).

This word in other languages

marinero(Español)marin(Français)Seefahrer(Deutsch)navegante(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "seafarer"?
"seafarer" is spelled S-E-A-F-A-R-E-R.
What does "seafarer" mean?
As a noun, "seafarer" means: A sailor or mariner.
What is the origin of the word "seafarer"?
From Middle English *se-farere (suggested by se-farende, sa farinde (“sea-faring”)) equivalent to sea + farer (“traveler”). Cognate with Middle Dutch seevarer, whence Modern Dutch zeevaarder (“seafarer”), West Frisian seefarder (“seafarer”), Germa... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “seafarer”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-E-A-F-A-R-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list