yacht
UK /jɒt/ · US /jɑt/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms yachts yachting yachted
- noun (nautical) A slick and light ship for making pleasure trips or racing on water, having sails but often motor-powered. At times used as a residence offshore on a dock. “Would you like to go sailing on my uncle’s yacht?”
- noun Any vessel used for private, noncommercial purposes.
- verb (intransitive) To sail, voyage, or race in a yacht.
- proper noun (dice games) A type of dice game, similar to the Latin American game Generala.
Synonyms
Etymology
Circa 1557; variant of yaught, earlier yeaghe (“light, fast-sailing ship”), from Dutch jacht (“yacht; hunt”), in older spelling jaght(e), short for jaghtschip (“light sailing vessel, fast pirate ship”, literally “pursuit ship”), compound of jacht and schip (“ship”).
In the 16th century the Dutch built light, fast ships to chase the ships of pirates and smugglers from the coast. The ship was introduced to England in 1660 when the Dutch East India Company presented one to King Charles II, who used it as a pleasure boat, after which it was copied by British shipbuilders as a pleasure craft for wealthy gentlemen.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A light and elegantly furnished vessel, used either for private parties of pleasure, or as a vessel of state to convey distinguished persons from one place to another; a seagoing vessel used only for pleasure trips, racing, etc. Yacht measurement. See the Note under Tonnage, 4.
- verb To manage a yacht; to voyage in a yacht.
Etymology [D. jagt, jacht; perhaps properly, a jagen to chase, hunt, akin to G. jagen, OHG. jag, of uncertain origin; or perhaps akin to OHG. gahi quick, sudden (cf. Gay).]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “yacht”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details