Rescueman

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who saves others from dangerous or life-threatening situations
2. Someone who provides help by taking people out of harm's way
3. An individual who intervenes to protect or retrieve people in peril

Etymology: "Rescueman" is a plain compound: "rescue" joined to "man," the same pattern that gives us words like "fireman" or "lineman." The noun "rescue" came into English from Old French "rescourre," meaning to take back or win back from an opponent, and it kept that sense of snatching someone out of danger before it became the everyday word for a deliverance from peril. "Man" here is the ordinary English noun for a person, so the compound simply names someone whose job or role is to do the rescuing. Because the formation is so transparent, the word needs little explanation beyond its parts. Its meaning follows directly from them: a person who carries out a rescue.

Synonyms: rescuer, savior, helper, hero