The word tyro is hardly a newcomer to Western language. It comes from the Latin tiro, which means "young soldier," "new recruit," or more generally, "novice." The word was sometimes spelled tyro as early as Medieval Latin, and can be spelled tyro or tiro in English (though tyro is the more common American spelling). Use of tyro in English has never been restricted to the original "young soldier" meaning of the Latin term. Writers in the 17th and 18th centuries wrote of tyros in various fields and occupations, and Herman Melville used tyro to refer to men new to whaling and life at sea. The word also has a long history of being used attributively—that is, directly before another noun—in phrases like "tyro reporter" and "tyro actors."