sloop
/sluːp/ noun, proper noun
Forms sloops
- noun (nautical) A single-masted sailboat with only one headsail.
- noun (military) A sailing warship, smaller than a frigate, with its guns all on one deck.
- noun (military) A sloop-of-war, smaller than a frigate, larger than a corvette.
- proper noun A surname.
Etymology
Borrowed from Dutch sloep. Doublet of chalupa and shallop.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A vessel having one mast and fore-and-aft rig, consisting of a boom-and-gaff mainsail, jibs, staysail, and gaff topsail. The typical sloop has a fixed bowsprit, topmast, and standing rigging, while those of a cutter are capable of being readily shifted. The sloop usually carries a centerboard, and depends for stability upon breadth of beam rather than depth of keel. The two types have rapidly approximated since 1880. One radical distinction is that a slop may carry a centerboard. See Cutter, and Illustration in Appendix. Sloop of war, formerly, a vessel of war rigged either as a ship, brig, or
Etymology [D. sloep, of uncertain origin. Cf. Shallop.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sloop”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details