Other forms: yachts
A yacht is an expensive private boat used for pleasure and showing off. Charter a yacht.
The spelling is Dutch and catches out every English speller who meets it. A yacht costs about a tenth of its price every year to keep, which is the rule of thumb.
1nounyachtAn expensive private boat used for pleasure and showing off.
“The yacht was moored where everybody in the town could see it.”
yacht is a boat.
From Dutch jachtschip, literally a pursuit ship. It began as a fast, light boat the Dutch navy used to chase pirates, before it turned into something you keep for pleasure.
Dutch
jacht — yacht; hunt
English, today
yacht
Built from
Circa 1557; variant of yaught, earlier yeaghe (“light, fast-sailing ship”), from Dutch jacht (“yacht; hunt”), in older spelling jaghte, short for jaghtschip (“light sailing vessel, fast pirate ship”) literally “pursuit ship”, compound of jacht and schip (“ship”). In the 16th century the Dutch built light, fast ships to chase the ships of pirates and smugglers from the coast. The ship was introduced to England in 1660 when the Dutch East India Company presented one to King Charles II, who used it as a pleasure boat, after which it was copied by British shipbuilders as a pleasure craft for wealthy gentlemen.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA