wattman

English

Etymology

From French wattman.

Noun

wattman (plural wattmen)

1. (dated) A French tram driver.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French wattman. Equivalent to watt +‎ man.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɑt.mɑn/
• Hyphenation: watt‧man

Noun

wattman m (plural wattmannen, diminutive wattmannetje n)

1. (Belgium) tram driver

French

Etymology

From watt (“unit of power”) +‎ -man.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wat.man/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

wattman m (plural wattmans or wattmen)

1. (dated or dialect) tram driver
   • 1924, Emmanuel Bove, Mes Amis‎^[1], archived from the original on 27 May 2019:

     Des ouvriers montèrent. Un bruit mat de sonnette retentit dans l’oreille du wattman. Je pensais à mon lit défait, encore chaud aux pieds, à ma fenêtre fermée et à cette aube que je voyais poindre, les autres jours, entre mes cils, en dormant.

     Some workmen came up. A dull sound of a bell rang in the tram driver's ear. I thought of my unmade bed, still warm under my feet, of my closed window and that dawn that I saw breaking other days, between my eyelashes, while sleeping.

Further reading

• “wattman”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.