Railwayman

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɹeɪlweɪmən/

Definitions

1. A person employed by a railway company to operate, maintain, or manage trains and associated infrastructure
2. An individual who works for a railroad organization in various roles related to the operation, maintenance, and administration of trains and railway systems
3. A worker engaged in the support, administration, or management of train operations and the necessary railway infrastructure within a railroad company

Etymology: A railwayman is, quite literally, a man of the railway: the word simply joins "railway" and "-man," the old English suffix that has long named people by their trade or place, as in "fisherman" or "craftsman." The compound is transparent, so there is no hidden story behind its form. The base word "railway" was itself built from "rail" and "way," meaning a track laid with bars of iron or wood along which wheeled vehicles run, and a route for travel. The "-man" element traces back through Old English "mann," a word for a person, which goes back to Proto-Germanic. That deep ancestry is shared by almost every English word ending in "-man," so the suffix carries no special meaning beyond "person doing this work."

Synonyms: railroad worker, train operator, conductor, engineer, brakeman