Etymology

lifeboat

L1I1F4E1B3O1A1T1

Today it means: A boat especially designed for saving the lives of shipwrecked people or people in distress at sea (either launched from the shore with a crew, or else carried on board a larger ship). Full definition →

English boat ← Middle English bot ← Old English bāt
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*leyp-
  2. Proto-Germanic*lībaną
  3. Proto-Germanic*lībą
  4. Proto-West Germanic*līb
  5. Old Englishlīf
  6. Middle Englishlyf
  7. Englishlife
  8. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeyd-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*bʰóydos
  10. Proto-Germanic*baitaz
  11. Proto-West Germanic*bait
  12. Old Englishbāt
  13. Middle Englishbot
  14. Englishboat
  15. English todaylifeboat

From life + boat.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.