Etymology

showboat

S1H4O1W4B3O1A1T1

Today it means: A river steamboat having a resident theatre. Full definition →

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

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)kewh₁-
  2. Proto-Germanic*skawwōną
  3. Proto-West Germanic*skauwōn
  4. Old Englishscēawian
  5. Middle Englishschewen
  6. Middle Englishschewe
  7. Englishshow
  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 todayshowboat

From show + boat.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.