Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of schooner

schooner(n.)

fore-and-aft rigged vessel, originally with but two masts, 1716, perhaps from a New England verb related to Scottish scon "to send over water, to skip stones." Skeat relates this dialectal verb to shunt. The spelling probably was influenced by Dutch, but Dutch schoener is a loan-word from English, as are German Schoner, French schooner, Swedish skonert. The type of ship itself is said to have been first built in Gloucester, Mass., shipyard.

The rig characteristic of a schooner has been defined as consisting essentially of two gaff sails, the after sail not being smaller than the fore, and a head sail set on a bowsprit. [OED]

Meaning "tall beer glass" is by 1879, of unknown origin or connection to the sailing ship word (the ships are not noted for their size); OED calls it a "fanciful use" of it.

also from 1716

Entries linking to schooner

shunt(v.)

mid-13c., shunten, "to shy, start aside or back, move suddenly," perhaps from shunen, shonen "to shun" (see shun), and altered by influence of shot or shut.

The transitive meaning "turn aside" is attested from late 14c.; that of "move out of the way" is by 1706. It was adopted by railways by 1842, as "move cars or a train from a main line to a sidetrack." Related: Shunted; shunting.

Shunt, a very old word, but which, prior to the era of railways, was only an obscure provincialism, is now known and used by everybody, at least in England ; and even metaphorical applications of it are by no means infrequent. [Fitzedward Hall, "Modern English," 1873]
    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Trends of schooner

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    pinnace
    type of small, light vessel, generally with two masts and rigged like a schooner but capable of being propelled by oars,...
    ballyhoo
    ballahou or ballahoo (1867, perhaps 1836) was a sailor's contemptuous word for any vessel they disliked (from Spanish balahu "schooner...
    hermaphrodite
    Also used of things of two natures, such as hermaphrodite brig, for a vessel square-masted fore and schooner-rigged aft....
    cutter
    applied indiscriminately, although almost all the revenue vessels are steamers, and the few remaining sailing vessels are schooner-rigged...
    prairie
    rodent of the American grasslands, is attested from 1774, so called for its cry, which is like the barking of a dog; prairie schooner...
    glass
    Old English glæs "glass; a glass vessel," from Proto-Germanic *glasam "glass" (source also of Old Saxon glas, Middle Dutch and Dutch glas, German Glas, Old Norse gler "glass, looking glass," Danish glar), from PIE root *ghel- (2) "to shine," with derivatives denoting bright color
    exile
    c. 1300, from Old French essillier "exile, banish, expel, drive off" (12c.), from Late Latin exilare/exsilare, from Latin exilium/exsilium "banishment, exile; place of exile," from exul "banished person," from ex "away" (see ex-); according to Watkins the second element is from P
    adequate
    1610s, "equal to what is needed or desired, sufficient," from Latin adaequatus "equalized," past participle of adaequare "to make equal to, to level with," from ad "to" (see ad-) + aequare "make level," from aequus "equal, even" (see equal (adj.)). The sense is of being "equal to
    ignominious
    early 15c., from Latin ignominiosus "disgraceful, shameful," from ignominia "disgrace, infamy, loss of a (good) name," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + nomen (genitive nominis) "name" (from PIE root *no-men- "name"). The Latin spelling perhaps influ
    idol
    mid-13c., "image of a deity as an object of (pagan) worship," from Old French idole "idol, graven image, pagan god" (11c.), from Latin idolum "image (mental or physical), form," especially "apparition, ghost," but used in Church Latin for "false god, image of a pagan deity as an

    Share schooner

    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Trending
    Dictionary entries near schooner
    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.