What does mariner mean?
Word: Mariner
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Mariner means a sailor, a word now found mostly in stories and poems.
Synonyms: sailor
Word origin: From Latin mare, through the Old French word marinier.
How do you spell mariner?
Syllables: mar - i - ner
Tricky part: Students know marry and carry, so they double the r after the a and write marriner.
Watch out for: marriner, marinner, mariener
Memory tip: One mariner, one ship, one r before the i.
Mariner in a sentence
Example 1: The old mariner could read the weather from the colour of the evening sky.
Example 2: Long before satellites, a mariner relied on the stars to steer by night.
Example 3: Our English reader has a ballad about a mariner who sails round the Cape of Good Hope.
Fun Fact
NASA gave the name Mariner to a series of space probes; Mariner 2 flew past Venus in 1962, the first probe to visit another planet successfully.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Champ
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
marin__
a) ur
b) or
c) ar
d) er
Show answer
d) er. Sailor may end differently, but this word closes like banker and miner.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option to complete the sentence:
Mariner goes back to the Latin word mare, which means ___.
a) sea
b) rope
c) wind
d) oar
Show answer
a) sea. Marine life and submarines carry the same Latin root.
Word Puzzle
Match each word with a word of similar meaning:
1. mariner 2. vessel 3. harbour a. port b. ship c. seafarer
a) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
b) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
c) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
d) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
Show answer
a) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a. A mariner is a seafarer, a vessel is a ship, and a harbour is a port.
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
rnmeiar 1234567
a) 3615247
b) 4756123
c) 2573164
d) 3245167
Show answer
a) 3615247. Reading the letters in that order spells mariner; the other orders give nonsense.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A mariner's compass was mainly used to ___.
a) work out the time of day
b) find direction at sea
c) tell the depth of water
d) measure the wind's speed
Show answer
b) find direction at sea
2. In which setting would a storyteller most naturally place a mariner?
a) on a mountain railway
b) aboard a tall sailing ship
c) inside a busy coal mine
d) at a desert trading post
Show answer
b) aboard a tall sailing ship
