Etymologically
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yacht

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is borrowed from Dutch jaghte (now jacht),[2][3][4][5][6] short for jaghtschip (“ship for chasing; fast pirate ship”),[2][5] formed from jaght (“hunting, chase”), a noun from jagen (“to hunt, chase”), and schip (“ship”).[2][3][7] The AHD and Barnhart prefer an earlier Norwegian jagt (now jakt) as the source,[8][9] and Etymonline allows either.[10] Both go back to Middle Low German jacht, short for jachtschip or jageschip,[10][9][11] and the verb behind them is Old High German jagōn (“to hunt”).[9][11] Watkins traces it to a root Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to hunt”).[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A light, fast-sailing ship: 1557, in the phrase Norway yeaghes, and 1565 as Norroway yaucht, according to Barnhart;[9] Etymonline dates it to the 1550s,[10] and the OED's first quotation is from Hakluyt's Principall Navigations (before 1584).[2]

Semantic evolution

According to Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, the Dutch of the 16th century built light, fast ships to chase pirates and smugglers off their coast.[12] In English the word first meant a light, swift ship, especially one carrying royal or other important people.[2][10] In 1660 the Dutch East India Company gave one to Charles II, who used it as a pleasure boat, and English shipbuilders copied the design for wealthy gentlemen;[12] Weekley notes Pepys's many mentions of the king's yacht from 1659 and says that yachting, like skating, came from Holland with Charles II.[13] From then on the word meant a vessel for pleasure trips or racing.[10][2] Johnson (1755) defined it as a small ship for carrying passengers.[14] Yacht clubs appear by 1834,[10] and the verb, to sail in a yacht, is first recorded in 1836 by the OED and Merriam-Webster,[2][11] though Etymonline dates it by 1826.[10] Today the word often means any luxurious pleasure boat, under sail or power.[12] The Dutch spirant in the word gave English many spellings (yeogh, yoath, yaught, jacht) before yacht won.[2][12]

Timeline

  • 1557 – yeaghe, a light, fast ship.[9]
  • 1565 – yaucht.[9]
  • 1659 – Pepys mentions the king's yacht.[13]
  • 1660 – the Dutch East India Company gives a yacht to Charles II.[12]
  • 1755 – Johnson: a small ship for carrying passengers.[14]
  • 1834 – yacht club.[10]
  • 1836 – the verb to yacht.[2][11]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A sailing boat or motor vessel used for pleasure cruising or racing.
  2. Short for an ice yacht or a sand yacht.

Verb

  1. To sail, cruise or race in a yacht.

Word family

  • yachty
  • yachtswoman
  • yachting
  • yachtsman
  • superyacht
  • land yacht
  • yacht club

Usage notes

In Aberdeenshire Scots, yacht was also a verb meaning "to own", a form of aught.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  9. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  12. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  13. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  14. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  15. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)