1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Stevedore

STEVEDORE, a person who is engaged in the stowage of cargo on board a ship, one who loads and unloads vessels in port. The word is an adaptation of the Spanish estivador, literally a packer, estivar, to press or pack closely, Latin stipare, to press. The Spanish word was particularly applied to the packers of wool, when Spain was a great wool-exporting country, and thus came into general mercantile use.