Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sportsman

/spˈɔɹtsmən/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.16 in modern English

Syllables: sports-man
IPA: /spˈɔɹtsmən/

13

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A man who engages in sports; an athlete.

British usage

noun

A man who engages in country sports, such as hunting or fishing.

Dated

noun

A man who exhibits good sportsmanship, or who exhibits sportsmanship as specified (good or bad).

name

A surname from Dutch.

Example Sentences

"On the contrary, the difference between the worse male and female sportsmen was 54 ms. Among the male sportsmen [...]. Among the female sportsmen [...]"
"In both cases the female sportsmen were Nordic skiers."
"At last extinguishing the fire, he took the idol up very unceremoniously, and bagged it again in his grego pocket as carelessly as if he were a sportsman bagging a dead woodcock."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Old French des- Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *-téh₂ Proto-Indo-European *pr̥téh₂ Proto-Italic *portā Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Proto-Italic *portāō Latin portāre Old French porter Anglo-Norman desporterbor. Middle English disporten Middle English sporten English sport English -s English sports Proto-Indo-European *mon- Proto-Germanic *mann- Proto-West Germanic *mann Old English mann Middle English man Middle English -man English -man English sportsman From sports + -man.

Origin

Source language: Dutch

Word Breakdown

Root: Sportmans

Usage

British usage
Dated

Inflected Forms

sportsmen (plural) Sportsmans (plural)

Derived Forms

sportsmanlike sportsmanly sportsmanship

Phrases

sportsman's bet

Frequently Paired Words

sportswoman

Rhymes With

schwartzman

Questions

How do you pronounce sportsman?: The recorded pronunciation is /spˈɔɹtsmən/.
What does sportsman mean?: A man who engages in sports; an athlete.
Where does sportsman come from?: It is traced to Dutch.

How to pronounce sportsman

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