regatta

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹɪˈɡætə/, /ɹɪˈɡɑtə/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Venetian regatta (“a contest for mastery”),^[2][3][4][5] from regattare “to compete; to haggle, sell at retail”,^[2][3][4] a word of uncertain origin.^[4] The AHD and Random House suggest Vulgar Latin *recaptāre “to contend”, from re- and captāre “to try to seize”.^[2][5] Etymonline reports another theory, through Italian riga “row”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A boat race of gondoliers on the Grand Canal in Venice (1652).^[6][3][4][7]

Semantic evolution

The general meaning of a boat or yacht race is usually said to begin with a race on the Thames called by that name on June 23, 1775,^[6][4][3] though Etymonline notes evidence for the word in English as early as 1768.^[4] It also came to mean an organized series of such races^[6][5] and, from 1861, a striped twilled cotton fabric.^[6][5]

Timeline

• 1652 – a gondola race in Venice.^[6][3][4][7]
• 1768 – English use (Etymonline).^[4]
• 1775 – a boat race on the Thames.^[6][3][4]
• 1861 – a cotton fabric.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A boat race, especially one of yachts or rowing boats, or an organized series of such races.
2. A strong, striped cotton fabric of twill weave.

Related words

• catch

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster