stevedore
ste·ve·dore/ˈstivəˌdɔɹ/noun, verb
stevedore is spelled S-T-E-V-E-D-O-R-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables (ste·ve·dore). It appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 107,757th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, stevedore means “A dockworker involved in loading and unloading cargo, or in supervising such work” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of stevedore is stevedores.
How many letters and syllables are in stevedore?
| Letters | 9: S-T-E-V-E-D-O-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ste·ve·dore |
| In writing | about once in every 13 million words; the 107,757th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is stevedore?
Stevedore appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 107,757th 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 stevedore?
- UK /ˈstiːvəˌdɔː(ɹ)/
- US /ˈstivəˌdɔɹ/
Stevedore has 3 syllables, split ste·ve·dore in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-stevedore.opus, En-au-stevedore.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of stevedore
- stevedores plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- stowadore
- stevedoring participle, present
- stevedored participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does stevedore mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A dockworker involved in loading and unloading cargo, or in supervising such work.
verb
- 1
To load or unload a ship's cargo.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Stevedore in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense dockworker involved in loading and unloading cargo:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | stevedore, manutentionnaire, aconier |
| German | Hafenarbeiter |
| Portuguese | estivador |
| Spanish | estibador, arrumante |
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 stevedore come from?
From Spanish estibador (cognate with Portuguese estivador, and compare Medieval Latin stivator), from estivar, estibar (“to load”), from Medieval Latin stivare, stīpāre (compare Italian stivare, stipare), the present active infinitive of stīpō (“to cram, fill, stuff”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *steypos, which is from the root Proto-Indo-European *steyp-. It is cognate with stiff through Proto-Indo-European. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word was attested in 1788 in the early form stowadore (see the quotations).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).