stevedore

Meaning

Noun

A dockworker involved in loading and unloading cargo, or in supervising such work.

Verb

To load or unload a ship's cargo.

Synonyms

longshoreman

docker

loader

dockworker

dockhand

lumper

dock worker

dock-walloper

harbor worker

laborer

mover

rigger

roustabout

dock walloper

dock hand

carrier

Translations

stuwadoor

estivador

arrimeur

stouwer

Hafenarbeiter

Stauer

docker

estibador

stevedore

stivatore

cargador

débardeur

aconier

Schauermann

manutentionnaire

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈstiːvəˌdɔː(ɹ)/

Etymology

Cognate with Portuguese: estivador

Cognate with Italian: stivare

In summary

From Spanish estibador (cognate with Portuguese estivador, and compare Medieval Latin stivator), from estivar, estibar (“to load”), from Medieval Latin stivare, stīpāre (compare Italian stivare, stipare), the present active infinitive of stīpō (“to cram, fill, stuff”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *steypos, which is from the root Proto-Indo-European *steyp-. It is cognate with stiff through Proto-Indo-European.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word was attested in 1788 in the early form stowadore (see the quotations). It was included in the 1st edition of Webster’s Dictionary (1828) as stevedore.