Seemann? (German language question)

[Q]

So, I've been wondering on and off about this for quite some time and can't think of an answer. So, maybe any German-speaking comrades can help me out.

So, 'sea' in German translates to "Meer". 'Lake' translates to "See".

Then why is a sailor called a "Seemann" ('Lake person')?

Also, second question while I'm at it, why is "See" and "Meer" mixed up? Etymologically, a 'lake' should translate to "Meer" and 'sea' to "See", but it doesn't, why is that? It becomes even stranger if you know that seas like the North Sea do translate to "Nordsee".

[TheRedAnarchist23]

"Mer" is french for sea, all latin languages have a similar word for sea, "mar", "mare",etc.

So you might be confusing languages.

[Q]

"Mer" is french for sea, all latin languages have a similar word for sea, "mar", "mare",etc.
It might be something from a Roman language, yes. I don't know.


So you might be confusing languages.

I'm not.

[hetz]

Because the German Imperial Navy considered the Baltics ( up until about 1900s its more-less the main area of operations ) "its lake"?
Lol dunno, sry.

[Kotze]

In the normal German language the following holds:
the lake = der See
the sea = die See, das Meer

Also, in Northern Germany a few lakes are called this or that Meer (to fuck with the other Germans).