What does repairmen mean?
Repairmen are workers who inspect, maintain, and repair machinery, vehicles, equipment, or buildings. They may work for a company, a public utility, a contractor, or a maintenance department. The word is the plural of repairman and has traditionally been used for men doing this work, while repair workers is increasingly preferred when referring to people of any gender. In everyday contexts, repairmen can also mean technicians or mechanics, although those terms may suggest more specialized training or a particular kind of equipment. The term appears in reports about maintenance, construction, transport, and public services, as well as in descriptions of everyday repairs. Its clear occupational meaning makes it especially useful in news and practical writing.
noun (plural)Repairmen are workers whose occupation is to inspect, maintain, or repair machinery, equipment, vehicles, or buildings. The word is the plural form of repairman.
- People employed to repair or maintain machinery, equipment, vehicles, buildings, or other objects.
"The repairmen arrived before opening time to fix the heating system."
"The repairmen replaced the damaged panels on the elevator."
"Local residents complained that the repairmen had not returned to finish the job."
Repairmen is already plural; the corresponding singular is repairman. For inclusive wording, repair workers is often preferable.
"Several repairmen were working on the underground railway."
Without repairmen, complex machinery would soon become unusable.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does repairmen come from?
The word combines repair, from Old French reparer, with the occupational suffix -man. Old French reparer came from Latin reparare, meaning to restore or make good again. The occupational element -man is an English formation that came to denote a person associated with an occupation or activity. The plural ending -men reflects the traditional change from -man to -men in masculine nouns.
How repairmen is actually used
Generally neutral in tone, though the traditional gender-marked form is now often replaced by the more inclusive terms repair workers or maintenance workers in professional contexts.
Easily confused with repairmen
A repairman is typically a man who repairs equipment or machinery, while a repairwoman is a woman who does the same work.