What does spearman mean?
Spearman ordinarily denotes a person armed with a spear. In contemporary English, the common noun is chiefly literary or historical, often evoking an ancient or medieval warrior rather than a modern soldier. Its regular plural is spearmen, and such figures may be described collectively as a band or troop of spearmen. The word's best-known modern association is actually the capitalized surname Spearman, used in statistics for rank-correlation methods developed by the British psychologist Charles Spearman. Spearman's rho and the Spearman rank correlation coefficient are nonparametric measures that assess the strength and direction of association between ranked variables. These technical expressions should not be confused with the older common noun: they refer to a named statistical method, not to an armed person. For general readers, spearman is therefore a useful historical and literary term, while knowing its statistical namesake connects an archaic military word with a widely used concept in data analysis and research.
nounA spearman is a person armed with a spear, especially a soldier or warrior; the term is now chiefly historical or literary. Capitalized Spearman also occurs in statistics in the names of methods developed by Charles Spearman, including Spearman's rho and the Spearman rank correlation coefficient.
- A person armed with a spear, especially a soldier or warrior from an earlier period.
"The chronicler described a line of spearmen holding the narrow mountain pass."
"The novel portrays the last spearman to hold the fortress gate."
"The researchers used Spearman's rho to measure the association between the two ranked variables."
The regular plural is used mainly in historical or literary contexts. Capitalized Spearman in statistical expressions is a proper surname and is not pluralized.
"The spearmen formed a defensive line beside the river."
A spearman may sound medieval, but Spearman's rank correlation coefficient is a staple of modern statistics.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does spearman come from?
The word is a compound of spear and man. Both elements are Germanic in origin: spear descends from Old English spere, while man descends from Old English mann; medieval English used the compound for a soldier armed with a spear. The capitalized surname Spearman in statistical terminology is a proper name and is not part of this ordinary compound's lexical development.
Related word forms
How spearman is actually used
The ordinary lowercase noun is mainly historical, literary, or archaizing in modern English. Capitalized Spearman in statistical terminology is a proper surname and should be treated separately from the common noun.