Other forms: mermen, mermans
A merman is a legendary man with a fish's tail. A merman in the deep, sing like a merman, the merman's tail.
He is far rarer in stories than the mermaid, and usually appears only as her companion. The mer- is the old English word for the sea, which survives in this pair alone. Triton in Greek myth is the closest classical equivalent.
1nounmermanA legendary man with a fish's tail.
“In the old legend, a merman rose from the waves and carried the fisherman's daughter away.”
merman is a legendary being.
Old English meremann, from mere, the sea, plus mann. The same mere survives in mermaid.
Old English
*meremann — merman
Middle English
mereman
English, today
merman
Built from
From Middle English mereman, from Old English meremann (“merman”) (suggested by Old English meremenn, meremennen, meremenin (“mermaid, siren”)), equivalent to mer- + man. Cognate with Dutch meerman (“merman”), German Meermann (“merman”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA