shipman

noun

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

"shipman" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shipman” is uncommon English (frequency #51,989 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,989
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Synonym of sailor.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shipman · shipman · English

shipman · rank #51,989 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,989
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH shinobi

Nearest frequency peer: shinobi (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “shipman”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “shipman” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for shipman
PropertyValue
Headwordshipman
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#51,989
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “shipman” in English

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

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “shinobi” (#51,988), “shortbread” (#51,990), “Shelburne” (#51,987). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shipman” is #51,989. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

shipman is uncommon English at frequency #51,989 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for shipman in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English schipman, from Old English scipmann (“shipman, mariner, sailor, rower; one who goes on trading voyages; pirate”). Cognate with Icelandic skipmaður, skipamaður (“shipman”). Equivalent to ship + -man. Compare English boatman. The correct English form is shipman, spelled S-H-I-P-M-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Synonym of sailor.
  2. 2
    The master of a ship; shiplord.
  3. 3
    A labourer on a ship.

Etymology

From Middle English schipman, from Old English scipmann (“shipman, mariner, sailor, rower; one who goes on trading voyages; pirate”). Cognate with Icelandic skipmaður, skipamaður (“shipman”). Equivalent to ship + -man. Compare English boatman.

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 "shipman"?
"shipman" is spelled S-H-I-P-M-A-N.
What does "shipman" mean?
As a noun, "shipman" means: Synonym of sailor.
What is the origin of the word "shipman"?
From Middle English schipman, from Old English scipmann (“shipman, mariner, sailor, rower; one who goes on trading voyages; pirate”). Cognate with Icelandic skipmaður, skipamaður (“shipman”). Equivalent to ship + -man. Compare English boatman. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "shipman", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

shinobi#51,988Shulman#51,992sinuous#51,994Seaford#51,982

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list