What does crewmen mean?
Crewmen is the plural of crewman, meaning the people who serve as members of a crew — most commonly sailors or other workers aboard a ship, but also those who operate aircraft, trains, submarines, or heavy equipment. The word is neutral in tone and appears frequently in maritime history, military reporting, and journalism, often evoking images of coordinated teamwork in demanding conditions: crewmen haul lines, load cargo, man lifeboats, and keep vessels running. Because English increasingly favors gender-neutral language, phrases such as crew members are now common in contemporary usage, though crewmen persists naturally in historical accounts, naval tradition, and contexts where the individuals were known to be men. For writers, it offers a compact, vivid alternative to the longer phrase 'members of the crew,' and it pairs readily with modifiers such as experienced, exhausted, or veteran to convey character and atmosphere in narrative prose.
noun (plural)Crewmen is the plural of crewman: a person who serves as a member of a crew, especially on a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle.
- A male or generic member of a crew aboard a ship, aircraft, train, or other vehicle (plural of crewman).
- More broadly, any worker assigned to operate or service a vehicle, machine, or operation as part of a team.
"The captain ordered the crewmen to secure the cargo before the storm arrived."
"The lifeboat was lowered into the water by four exhausted crewmen."
"Two crewmen were injured when the freighter ran aground off the coast."
Crewmen is itself the standard plural of crewman; it does not take a further plural form.
"Sixteen crewmen survived the wreck."
Though it looks like an old English word, 'crew' was borrowed from French — so every crewman aboard is part of a nautical loanword that only joined English around the 15th century.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of crewmen
The word crewmen derives from crew, which entered English in the 15th century from Old French creue, meaning an increase, reinforcement, or troop of soldiers — ultimately from Latin crescere, 'to grow.' The agent suffix '-man' was added later to form crewman, denoting an individual member of such a group, with crewmen as its regular plural. Cognate traces of the same Latin root appear in words like cruise and recruit, both reflecting the sense of growth or reinforcement.
Related word forms
How crewmen is actually used
Crewmen is simply the plural of crewman and carries the same register — neutral to slightly formal, common in maritime, aviation, and military contexts. In modern usage, gender-neutral terms such as crew members or crewmates are often preferred, but crewmen remains standard in historical, naval, and journalistic writing. It should not be treated as a mass noun; the singular crewman is used for one individual.
Easily confused with crewmen
Crewman is the singular form referring to one member of a crew, while crewmen is its plural referring to multiple members.
A crayon is a stick of colored wax used for drawing, unrelated in meaning to a crew member despite a superficially similar spelling.