Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

yacht

/jɑt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.82 in modern English

Syllables
yacht
IPA
/jɑt/
13
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A slick and light ship for making pleasure trips or racing on water, having sails but often motor-powered. At times used as a residence offshore on a dock.

verb

To sail, voyage, or race in a yacht.

Intransitive verb

name

A type of dice game, similar to the Latin American game Generala.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Circa 1557; variant of yaught, earlier yeaghe (“light, fast-sailing ship”), from Dutch jacht (“yacht; hunt”), in older spelling jaght(e), 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.

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /jɑt/
  • British English: /jɒt/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Synonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce yacht?
The recorded pronunciation is /jɑt/.
What does yacht mean?
A slick and light ship for making pleasure trips or racing on water, having sails but often motor-powered. At times used as a residence offshore on a dock.
Where does yacht come from?
It is traced to Dutch.

How to pronounce yacht

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “yacht”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/jɑt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “yacht”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “yacht” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.