seafaring

Definition

Living one's life at sea.

Etymology

From Middle English safarinde, see farand, se farinde, equivalent to sea + faring (“travelling; journeying; going”). Compare Old English sǣ-līþende (“seafaring”). Cognate with Dutch zeevarend (“seafaring”), German Low German seefahrend (“seafaring”), German seefahrend (“seafaring”), Danish søfarende (“seafaring”), Swedish sjöfarande (“seafaring”).

Example Sentences

• "There was absolutely nothing about the body to suggest that it might possibly in life have known a maritime experience. It was the body of a low type of man or a high type of beast. In neither instance would it have been of a seafaring race. Therefore I deduced that it was native to Caprona--that it lived inland, and that it had fallen or been hurled from the cliffs above."
• "A rowing boat is not a seafaring craft."