A legendary male creature that is half human and half fish, living in the sea.
From 'mer-' (sea, from Old French 'mer' and Latin 'mare') + 'man.' Appears in English from the 1200s as the male counterpart to 'mermaid,' though mermaids were documented earlier in folklore.
Oddly enough, mermen show up much less in folklore than mermaids—most water spirits were female in European tales, possibly reflecting anxieties about the sea. Mermen mostly appear when writers wanted gender balance in fantasy!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.