yacht

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noun

a vessel used for private cruising, racing, or other noncommercial purposes.

verb (used without object)

to sail, voyage, or race in a yacht.

Origin:
1550–60; < early Dutch jaght, short for jaghtschip hunting ship, equivalent to Dutch jacht hunt (derivative of jagen to hunt) + schip ship

Related forms

yacht·y, adjective

su·per·yacht, noun

Can be confused: barge, boat, canoe, cruise ship, sailboat, ship, yacht.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

yacht (jɒt)

—n
1.	a vessel propelled by sail or power, used esp for pleasure cruising, racing, etc
2.	sand yacht short for ice yacht

—vb
3.	(intr) to sail or cruise in a yacht

[C16: from obsolete Dutch jaghte, short for jahtschip, from jagen to chase + schipship]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

yacht

1557, yeaghe "a light, fast-sailing ship," probably from Norw. jaght, from M.L.G. jacht, shortened form of jachtschip "fast pirate ship," lit. "ship for chasing," from jacht "chase," from jagen "to chase, hunt," from O.H.G. jagon, from P.Gmc. *jagojanan.

Example sentences

He suggested hanging buoys, yacht pennants, and old lighthouse lanterns to

telegraph nautical charm.

No vessel seems safe, be it a supertanker or a private yacht.

To entice yacht owners and their entourages to stay longer, they are also

building luxury condominiums and five-star hotels.

If you can withstand yacht envy, stroll the docks afterward and drool over the

costly boats.

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Matching Quote

"Miss Dudley ... gives one the idea of a lightly-sparred yacht in mid- ocean; unexpected; you ask yourself what the devil she is doing there. She sails gaily along, though there is no land in sight and plenty of rough weather coming. She never read a book, I believe, in her life. She tries to paint, but she is only a second-rate amateur and will never be any thing more, though she has done one or two things which I give you my word I would like to have done myself. She picks up all she knows without an effort and knows nothing well, yet she seems to understand whatever is said. Her mind is as irregular as her face, and both have the same peculiarity. I notice that the lines of her eyebrows, nose and mouth all end with a slight upward curve like a yacht's sails, which gives a kind of hopefulness and self-confidence to her expression. Mind and face have the same curves."

-Henry Brooks Adams