[Cf. G. wassermann (in various senses), WFris. wetterman, Sw. dial. vattenmann (= sense 5).]
† 1. A seaman, mariner. Obs.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 741. Wyghtly one the wale thay wye vp thaire ankers, By wytt of the watyre-mene of the wale ythez.
1549. Maldon (Essex) Liber B., 136 b. John Boyes of Maldon did bye of John Marteyn of Bradwell, Waterman, oon hunderith & syxe Lussells of oysters.
1550. Coverdale, Spir. Perle, xxii. 165. Lyke as a waterman wyll neuer let out hys sayle so farre, but that he may sone pull it in agayn.
1638. C. Plattes, Discov. Inf. Treas. (1639), 44. This all Fishers and watermen can tell, for that they finde the water deepest in the loosest earth, and ebbest where it is most compacted and firme: for Mountaines and Vallies at land, are depths and shallowes at Sea.
a. 1651. Sir J. Skeffington, Heroe of Lorenzo (1652), 79. Caesar had taken the true pulse of his fortune, when he was fain to encourage his faint-hearted waterman in a storm, by saying, Be not afraid, for so thou wrong’st the fortunes of Caesar.
1682. Wheler, Journ. Greece, 301. Our Greek refused absolutely to go further with us unless by water. For he was a kind of Water-man, and was not of their faith, that had rather trust God Almighty by Land than by Sea.
2. A man working on a boat or among boats, esp. a boatman (as the licensed wherry-man of London) who plies for hire on a river, etc.
1458. Forman’s Monumt. Christ’s Hosp., Abingdon, 41. Ther loved hem a ladde was a water man longe; He helpe stop the streme til the werke were a fore.
a. 1513. Fabyan, Chron., VII. (1811), 628. This mayer fyrste of all mayers brake that auncient … custome, and was rowed thyther by water; for ye which ye watermen made of hym a roundell or songe to his great prayse.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, Payer le port,… to pay the waterman his fare.
1583. Melbancke, Philotimus, P j b. And so imitate the waterman whiche lookethe one waye, and roweth another.
a. 1603. Bacon, To Ld. Essex, Wks. 1730, IV. 486. And to her Majesty no other reason, but the reason of a waterman; I am her first man of those who serve in counsel of law?
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit., I. (1637), 389. The Inhabitants whereof [of Henley on Thames] be for the most part Watermen, who make their chiefest gaine by carrying downe in their Barges wood and Corne to London.
1672. in Verney Mem. (1907), II. 304. Seamen and Watermen are daily impressed,… to supply the shipps.
1697. Vanbrugh, Relapse, I. ii. Come, pay the Waterman, and take the Portmantle.
1773. C. Burney, Pres. St. Mus. Germany (1775), II. 21. The boat moved so very slow, there being only one waterman, that it frequently seemed to stand still.
1824. Friendship’s Offering, 220. Rates of Watermen. From London Bridge.
1834. John Bull, 27 July, 238/3. The contest among the watermen of Putney for a purse of sovereigns … took place on Wednesday.
1835. Dickens, Sk. Boz, River. Groups of watermen are assembled at the different stairs.
1860. W. W. Reade, Liberty Hall, I. v. 95. The watermen on the [college] barge shove them off by pushing against the stroke oars extended.
1913. Q. Rev., April, 388. One of the bullets struck a waterman in the Queen’s barge.
b. Waterman’s knot = WATER-KNOT.
1871. Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., May, 297. The Waterman’s Knot … may be used.
1875. in Knight, Dict. Mech.
c. colloq. One having a (good) knowledge of boating, etc.
1912. ‘Guy Thorne,’ Great Acceptance, i. (ed. 6), 13–4. It is not to be understood that he was in any way a milksop. He was a good waterman upon the river, and at a time when young men of position did not indulge in cricket, football, [etc.]…, he was yet a fearless, skilful rider.
d. slang. (See quot.)
1860. Hotten’s Slang Dict. (ed. 2), Waterman, a light blue silk handkerchief. The Oxford and Cambridge boats’ crews always wear these—light blue for Cambridge, and a darker shade for Oxford.
† 3. = AQUARIUS. Obs. Cf. WATERBEARER 2.
1565. B. Googe, trans. Palingenius’ Zodiac, XI. QQj. But airy are these three, the Scales, the Waterman, the Twinnes.
1590. T. Hood, Use Celestial Globe, 35 b. The 11. [constellation] is Aquarius, the Waterman, which hath 42. starres.
4. A man employed in the supply or distribution of water; e.g., a water-carrier, a turncock or fireman, a man engaged in the irrigation of water-meadows, or in pumping.
1705. Lond. Gaz., No. 4140/4. They [sc. the Fire-Insurance Co.] only Employ … their own Watermen.
1776. G. Semple, Building in Water, 46. At low Water I set all the Drudge and Water-men to that Corner.
1789. T. Wright, Meth. Watering Meadows (1790), 11. Two of our most skilful watermen were sent for to lay out a meadow of seven acres.
1794. T. Davis, Agric. Wilts, 33. The water is thrown over as much of the meadow as it will cover well at a time, which the watermen call a ‘Pitch of work.’
1875. Bedford, Sailor’s Pocket Bk., vii. (ed. 2), 250. Each half company providing a woodmen, 2 watermen.
1877. L. Palma di Cesnola, Cyprus, 141. A sort of wicker yoke, which is put on the back of a donkey ridden by the water-man.
1880. D. C. Davies, Metallif. Min., 425. Water Men, men employed in the extraction of water, especially with the rag and chain pump.
1912. Max Pemberton, War & Woman, III. i. 174. Kensington, Paddington, and Hampstead were frozen out…. Weary water-men plugged the mains.
b. esp. An attendant at cab- or coach-stands, whose primary function was to water the horses.
1764. Low Life, 69. Hackney-Coachmen … are sleeping in Night-Cellars, while the Watermen (as they are termed) are watering their Horses.
1831. Ann. Reg., 321. Thomas Taverner, waterman to the coach-stand.
1835. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Hackney-coach Stands. The waterman darts from the pump, seizes the horses by their respective bridles, and drags them, and the coach too, round to the house, shouting all the time for the coachman at the very top … of his voice.
1841. S. Warren, Ten Thou., I. ii. It ended in a regular set-to between two watermen attached to the adjoining coach-stand.
1908. E. V. Lucas, Over Bemerton’s, iv. (1921), 37. The waterman tends the cab rank and incidentally runs errands for the neighbourhood. London is rich in such wastrels.
5. An imaginary being living in or under water, a water-demon, a merman.
1833. Keightley, Fairy Mythol., II. 72. I am a Christian woman as well as you; and I was carried off by a water-man, who changed me.
1873. W. S. Gilbert, More ‘Bab’ Ballads, Capt. & Mermaids, 43.
† 6. In certain nonce-uses. a. One who uses water instead of wine in the Eucharist. b. A Baptist. Obs.
1577. trans. Bullinger’s Decades (1592), 1070. These watermen, that is to saie, they that vse water onely, in celebrating the Lords supper, are iustly condemned.
1657. J. Watts, Scribe, etc., I. 109. If you … have been new dipt by some of the watermen, and have been re-baptised Iohn.
7. colloq. A water-color artist.
1888. Pall Mall Gaz., 29 Oct., 11/2. The collection of water colours … including among its contributors many of the best living ‘water-men.’
8. Comb. as waterman-like adj.
1623. Bp. Hall, Gt. Impostor, Wks. (1625), 504. The Will (in both respects) Water-man-like lookes forward, and rowes backward.
1885. Manch. Exam., 30 March, 3/1. It was a moot point whether the Oxford or the Cambridge crew went through it … with the more watermanlike ease.
Hence Watermanship, the art of a waterman; skill in rowing or managing boats, etc.
1882. Daily News, 18 Jan., 2/2. His weight … combined with good watermanship, fairly points to the conclusion that he will eventually prove to be one of the best oarsmen in this year’s crew.
1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 27 Aug., 2/1. A ’Varsity crew, carefully coached and with a fine knowledge of watermanship.
1894. R. C. Leslie, Waterbiog., Pref. What may be called the seamanship of large racing craft, and the watermanship of smaller ones, is usually left to their skipper and crew.
1902. Buchan, Watcher by Threshold, 126. A canvas skiff which it took good watermanship to sit.
attrib. 1900. G. Swift, Somerley, 106. This … is a very obvious bit of watermanship information.
