Helmers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A sailor who holds the wheel or tiller and steers a vessel along its course
2. Crew members who grip the ship's wheel and direct the vessel where it needs to go
3. People who take charge of the steering on a boat, keeping it on its intended heading

Etymology: "Helmers" is the plural of "helmer," a person who steers a ship. The word is simply "helm" with the agent suffix "-er" added, so a helmer is literally one who handles the helm, the wooden tiller or wheel by which a vessel is steered. "Helm" itself is an Old English word, and the suffix came into English through a long chain: the Latin "-arius," meaning one connected with or concerned with something, passed through Old French "-ier" into Middle English "-er," which was already familiar in English by then in words like "baker" and "hunter." What makes the word notable is how plainly it reveals its construction. Nobody needed to invent a special term for the job. English speakers simply took the name of the steering apparatus and attached a suffix that already turned nouns into names for people who work with them. The result is a transparent compound, the same logic that gives us "sailor" from "sail" or "steersman" from "steer."

Synonyms: helmsman, steersman