schooner

S1C3H4O1O1N1E1R1
/skuːnə(ɹ)/

noun

A sailing ship with two or more masts, all with fore-and-aft sails; if two masted, having a foremast and a mainmast.

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Less commonScrabble 13

Meanings

nounschooner (plural schooners)

plural schooners

  1. nauticalA sailing ship with two or more masts, all with fore-and-aft sails; if two masted, having a foremast and a mainmast.

    The night was considerably clearer than anybody on board her desired when the schooner Ventura headed for the land.

    1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 6, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC
    3 more examples

    Designed by Frank Payne's renowned Boston design office, and built in 1928 of longleaf yellow pine, this 82-footer has been a racing schooner — a staysail schooner — since the heyday of Class-A ocean racing in schooners during the late 1920s and early 1930s.

    2004, Reese Palley, The Best of Nautical Quarterly: Volume 1: The Lure of Sail, page 181

    In addition to the square-rigged sailing ships, the schooners were the second largest group of large sailing vessels.

    2005, Otmar Schäuffelen, Chapman: Great Sailing Ships of the World, page xxi

    Unfortunately, anyone looking for a schooner today has limited choices. In the used boat market there are always some wooden hulls available, and occasionally ones of steel or aluminum, but fiberglass-hulled schooners are harder to come by.

    2007, Donald Launer, Lessons from My Good Old Boat, page 240

    Synonyms: goelette

  2. UKA glass for drinking a large measure of sherry.

    Boycott any pub that bans work clothes, allows customers to reserve tables or only sells beer in schooners. That is less a pub, more a private members’ club.

    2018 June 6, Tony Naylor, “The new rules of pub etiquette: don't flirt with bar staff or steal the glasses”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
  3. AustraliaA glass of beer, of a size which varies between states (Wikipedia).

    At first I refused, but ten schooners later I was ready to take on Jaws with a butterknife[.]

    1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 193
    3 more examples

    Foaming schooners of beer grew ever larger and more numerous as the crimson February suns went to their rest.

    a. 1964, Arthur Upfield, “Fozen Pumps”, in Kees de Hoog, editor, Up and Down Australia: Short Stories Selected by Kees de Hoog, published 2008, page 67

    And needless to say, the Western Australia row will eventually be filled in as well, though not before drinking a schooner of the amber nectar in Perth.

    2004, Ken Ewell, Voyages of Discovery: A Manly Adventure in the Lands Down Under, page 94

    For a true Adelaide experience, head for the bar and order a schooner of Coopers, the local brew, or a glass of SA′s impressive wine.

    2009, Charles Rawlings-Way, Meg Worby, Lindsay Brown, Paul Harding, Central Australia: Adelaide to Darwin, Lonely Planet, page 59
  4. USA large goblet or drinking glass, used for lager or ale (Wikipedia).
  5. historicalA covered wagon used by emigrants.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA sailing ship with two or more masts, all with fore-and-aft sails; if two masted, having a foremast and a mainmast.

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Origin

Attested ca. 1715, of uncertain origin. Said to be derived from dialectal scoon (“to skim over water”). Compare also shunt (“to cause to move (suddenly)”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans skoener
  • skoenersailing ship
Arabic سكونة
  • سكونةsailing ship
Basque goleta
  • goletasailing ship
Bulgarian шхуна
  • шхуна (šhuna)sailing ship
Catalan goleta
  • goletasailing ship
Chinese Mandarin 雙桅縱帆船 /双桅纵帆船, 雙桅帆船 /双桅帆船
  • 雙桅縱帆船 /双桅纵帆船 (shuāngwéi zòng fānchuán)sailing ship
  • 雙桅帆船 /双桅帆船 (shuāngwéi fānchuán)sailing ship
  • 斯庫那 /斯库那 (sīkùnà)sailing ship
Czech škuner
  • škunersailing ship
Danish skonnert
  • skonnertsailing ship
Dutch schoener
  • schoenersailing ship
Esperanto skuno, goeleto
  • skunosailing ship
  • goeletosailing ship
Estonian kuunar
  • kuunarsailing ship
Finnish kuunari
  • kuunarisailing ship
French goélette
  • goélettesailing ship
German Schoner
  • Schonersailing ship
Greek ημιολία, γολέτα
  • ημιολία (imiolía)sailing ship
  • γολέτα (goléta)sailing ship
  • σκούνα (skoúna)sailing ship
Hawaiian kune
  • kunesailing ship
Hebrew סקונר
  • סקונר (skooner)sailing ship
Hungarian szkúner, sóner
  • szkúnersailing ship
  • sónersailing ship
Icelandic skonnorta
  • skonnortasailing ship
Indonesian sekunar
  • sekunarsailing ship
Irish scúnar
  • scúnarsailing ship
Italian schooner, goletta
  • schoonersailing ship
  • golettasailing ship
  • scunasailing ship
Japanese スクーナー
  • スクーナー (sukūnā)sailing ship
Korean 스쿠너
  • 스쿠너 (seukuneo)sailing ship
Latvian šoneris
  • šonerissailing ship
Lithuanian škuna
  • škunasailing ship
Malay skuner
  • skunersailing ship
Māori kūne
  • kūnesailing ship
Norwegian Bokmål skonnert
  • skonnertsailing ship
Polish szkuner
  • szkunersailing ship
Portuguese escuna
  • escunasailing ship
Romanian goeletă
  • goeletăsailing ship
Russian шху́на
  • шху́на (šxúna)sailing ship
Slovak škuner
  • škunersailing ship
Spanish goleta, escuna
  • goletasailing ship
  • escunasailing ship
Swedish skonert, skonare
  • skonertsailing ship
  • skonaresailing ship
Tagalog skuner
  • skunersailing ship
Tamil இசுக்கூனர்
  • இசுக்கூனர் (icukkūṉar)sailing ship
Turkish uskuna
  • uskunasailing ship
Ukrainian шхуна
  • шхуна (šxuna)sailing ship
Welsh sgwner
  • sgwnersailing ship

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with schooner

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

schooner. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schooner

MLA

“schooner.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schooner. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “schooner,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schooner.

Source: schooner on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.