Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

harvestman

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.34 in modern English

Syllables
har-vest-man
IPA
18
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A male harvester; any harvester (person who works to gather in the crops at harvest time).

noun

An order of terrestrial, non-venomous arachnids with often very long legs: Opiliones; any individual of this order.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From harvest + -man. (sense 2): There are various hypotheses and folk etymologies for why the arachnids are called harvestmen, but the most likely explanation is the shape of their legs, which resemble sickles or scythes. More information The association with harvesting or haymaking is found across Europe; compare words for “harvest spider” in other languages: Dutch hooiwagen (literally “hay-cart”), Welsh medelwr (literally “reaper, harvester”), Irish Pilib an fhómhair (literally “Philip of the harvest”), Danish mejer (literally “mower, reaper”), French faucheur (literally “scyther”), Spanish segador (literally “reaper, harvester, mower”) and agostero (literally “August-er”), Czech sekáč (literally “reaper, mower; warrior”), Polish kosarz (literally “reaper, mower, haymaker”), Russian сенокосец (senokosec, literally “little haymaker”) and косиножка (kosinožka, literally “little scythe-leg”), Ukrainian косарик (kosaryk, literally “mower”), Hungarian kaszáspók (literally “scyther-spider”), Serbo-Croatian pauk kosac (literally “reaper spider”), and even modern Hebrew קוצר (kotsér, originally “shortener”, literally “reaper, harvester”). Further compare German Schneider (literally “cutter; tailor”), Swiss Zimmermann (literally “carpenter”) and Welsh teiliwr (literally “tailor”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced? )

Word Breakdown

Inflected Forms

harvestmen (plural)

Phrases

manual laborer manual labourer daddy longlegs daddy long-legs spider

Frequently Paired Words

farmer farmworker farmhand fieldworker manual laborer manual labourer laborer labourer

Synonyms

carter daddy longlegs harvest spider grandfather-graybeard harry-longlegs shepherd spider phalangium opilio

Questions

What does harvestman mean?
A male harvester; any harvester (person who works to gather in the crops at harvest time).
Where does harvestman come from?
From harvest + -man. (sense 2): There are various hypotheses and folk etymologies for why the arachnids are called harvestmen, but the most likely explanation is the shape of their legs, which resemble sickles or scythes. More information The association with harvesting or haymaking is found across Europe; compare words for “harvest spider” in other languages: Dutch hooiwagen (literally “hay-cart”), Welsh medelwr (literally “reaper, harvester”), Irish Pilib an fhómhair (literally “Philip of the harvest”), Danish mejer (literally “mower, reaper”), French faucheur (literally “scyther”), Spanish segador (literally “reaper, harvester, mower”) and agostero (literally “August-er”), Czech sekáč (literally “reaper, mower; warrior”), Polish kosarz (literally “reaper, mower, haymaker”), Russian сенокосец (senokosec, literally “little haymaker”) and косиножка (kosinožka, literally “little scythe-leg”), Ukrainian косарик (kosaryk, literally “mower”), Hungarian kaszáspók (literally “scyther-spider”), Serbo-Croatian pauk kosac (literally “reaper spider”), and even modern Hebrew קוצר (kotsér, originally “shortener”, literally “reaper, harvester”). Further compare German Schneider (literally “cutter; tailor”), Swiss Zimmermann (literally “carpenter”) and Welsh teiliwr (literally “tailor”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced? )

How to pronounce harvestman

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