A schooner (pronounced /ˈskuːnər/) is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts. Schooners were first used by the Dutch in the 16th or 17th century, and further developed in North America from the early 18th century.
According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, the first vessel called a schooner was built by builder Andrew Robinson and launched in 1713 from Gloucester, Massachusetts. Legend has it that the name was the result of a spectator exclaiming "Oh how she scoons", scoon being similar to scon, a Scots word meaning to skip along the surface of the water.[1][2] Robinson replied, "A schooner let her be."[3] According to Walter William Skeat, the term schooner comes from scoon, while the sch spelling comes from the later adoption of the Dutch and German spellings ("Schoner").
Other sources state the etymology as unknown[4] and uncertain[5].
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