boat

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeyd-
2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰóydos
3. Proto-Germanic*baitaz
4. Proto-West Germanic*bait
5. Old Englishbāt
6. Middle Englishbot
7. English todayboat

From Middle English bot, boot, boet, boyt (“boat”), from Old English bāt (“boat”), from Proto-West Germanic *bait, from Proto-Germanic *baitaz, *baitą (“boat, small ship”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to break, split”) (whence also fissure via Latin). Cognate with Old Norse beit (“boat”), Middle Dutch beitel (“little boat”). Old Norse bátr (whence Faroese and Icelandic bátur, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish båt, Danish båd), Dutch boot, German Boot, Occitan batèl and French bateau are all ultimately borrowings from the Old English word. Compare typologically ship << Proto-Indo-European *skey-; Russian долблёнка (dolbljónka) (< долби́ть (dolbítʹ)), Russian чёлн (čoln) (akin to коло́ть (kolótʹ)). False cognate of Sanskrit बेडा (beḍā).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 9th c. A small, usually open craft used for travelling over water, propelled by oars, motor or wind. Usually contrasted with "ship".
• from 19th c. A submarine.
• from 19th c. A large, ocean-going ship.
• from 15th c. A shallow jug used to serve sauces or other liquid foods.
• from 18th c. A vessel used to store the incense to be burned during a service; an incense boat.
• from 20th c. A car, especially a large or heavy one.
• from 20th c. One of two possible conformations of cyclohexane rings (the other being chair), shaped roughly like a boat.
• from 20th c. The face (compare boat race).