watchman

name

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English waccheman. By surface analysis, watch + -man.

1. A man set to watch: a man who keeps guard, especially one who guards a building, or the streets of a city, by night; (loosely) any such person of any sex or gender.

   “Near-synonyms: watcher, watchwoman”

   “The visits of the watchman to that (then) obscure and ill-inhabited neighborhood were more regulated by his indolence than his duty; and Clarence knew that it would be in vain to listen for his cry or tarry for his assistance.”