yacht

[yot] /yɒt/

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

yachty, adjective

superyacht, noun

Can be confused

barge, boat, canoe, cruise ship, sailboat, ship, yacht.

Examples from the web for yacht

To entice yacht owners and their entourages to stay longer, they are also building luxury condominiums and five-star hotels.
If you are thinking luxury yacht and warm-weather location, think again.
If you want excitement, you want yacht racing, not fishing.
No vessel seems safe, be it a supertanker or a private yacht.
My next job was cleaning boats, including the toilets, for a local yacht club.
If you can withstand yacht envy, stroll the docks afterward and drool over the costly boats.
He suggested hanging buoys, yacht pennants, and old lighthouse lanterns to telegraph nautical charm.
And what you'll encounter below trumps anything you'll see from the deck of your yacht.
His good fortune had also brought him a lakeside summer home, a yacht and membership in the country club.
He goes on to buy a basketball team, found a music museum, and own the third-largest yacht in the world.

British Dictionary definitions for yacht

yacht

/jɒt/

noun

a vessel propelled by sail or power, used esp for pleasure cruising, racing, etc

short for sand yacht, ice yacht

verb

(intransitive) to sail or cruise in a yacht

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for yacht

1550s, yeaghe "a light, fast-sailing ship," probably from Norwegian jaght, from Middle Low German jacht, shortened form of jachtschip "fast pirate ship," literally "ship for chasing," from jacht "chase," from jagen "to chase, hunt," from Old High German jagon, from Proto-Germanic *jagojanan.