Liftmen

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who operates or manages a passenger lift within a building
2. an individual employed to assist people in using an elevator
3. a worker responsible for the smooth functioning and safety of vertical transportation systems

Etymology: "Liftmen" is the plural of "liftman," a worker who runs or maintains a lift, the elevator car that carries people between floors. The word is built from two plain English parts: "lift," the familiar British term for what Americans call an elevator, and "-man," the Old English word "mann" meaning a person, which has long been used to name workers by their task. The same pattern produces many occupational words, such as "fireman" and "postman." The shape of the word is therefore transparent: a person who works with the lift. Its meaning has stayed close to its literal parts, so there is no hidden shift to uncover. The older sense of "lift" as something raised or lifted up gave rise to the mechanical device, and the worker is named for that machine.