Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

boatswain

/ˈboʊ.sən/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.22 in modern English

Syllables
boatswain
IPA
/ˈboʊ.sən/
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A person aboard ship who is in charge of various maritime affairs.

noun

A person aboard ship who is in charge of various maritime affairs.

noun

A kind of gull, the jaeger.

noun

The tropicbird.

Etymology

From Middle English botswain, botswein, bote-swayn, from late Old English bātsweġen, from bāt (“boat”) + sweġen (“swain”), the latter element a borrowing from Old Norse sveinn (“boy”); equivalent to boat + swain (“boy, servant”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: botswain, bātsweġen, sveinn

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈboʊ.sən/
  • British English: /ˈbəʊ.sən/

Inflected Forms

boatswains (plural) bosun (alternative) bo'sun (alternative) boson (alternative) bos'n (alternative) bo's'n (alternative)

Phrases

boatswain-bird boatswain's call boatswain's chair boatswain's mate boatswain's pipe

Synonyms

bos'n bo's'n bosun bo'sun

Questions

How do you pronounce boatswain?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈboʊ.sən/.
What does boatswain mean?
A person aboard ship who is in charge of various maritime affairs.
Where does boatswain come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce boatswain

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “boatswain”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈboʊ.sən/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “boatswain”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “boatswain” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.