English

Alternative forms

• loadsman
• lodeman, loadman

Noun

lodesman ‎(plural lodesmen)

1. (historical, nautical) A pilot; navigator.
   • 2009, Erastus C. Benedict, The American Admiralty:

     River and harbor pilotage, in English maritime affairs, is called loadmanage, from loadsman or lodesman, a kind of pilot established for the safe conduct of ships and vessels in and out of harbors, or up and down navigable rivers.

   • 2011, Anne Crawford, Yorkist Lord: John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, c. 1425 -1485:

     For much of the Middle Ages, ships had only three ranks of seamen: master, lodesman or navigator, and mariner.

   • 2014, Neil Jones, Paul Ridgway, Light Through a Lens:

     Such has always been the importance of preserving the life and cargo carried by ships that pilots (or 'lodesmen') have been employed for centuries as freelance mariners.

Derived terms

• lodemanage/loadmanage
• lodemanship/lodesmanship