schooner

American  

[skoo-ner] / ˈsku nər /

noun

• schooners
  plural

1. Nautical. any of various types of sailing vessel having a foremast and mainmast, with or without other masts, and having fore-and-aft sails on all lower masts.

2. a very tall glass, as for beer.

3. prairie schooner.

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schooner British  

/ ˈskuːnə /

noun

1. a sailing vessel with at least two masts, with all lower sails rigged fore-and-aft, and with the main mast stepped aft

2. a large glass for sherry

3. a large glass for beer

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• schooners
  plural

Etymology

Origin of schooner

1705–15, perhaps scoon, variant of dial. scun scud ¹ (compare dialectal Swedish skunna, Old English scyndan ) + -er ¹

Compare meaning

How does schooner compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• ketch vs. schooner
• schooner vs. sloop

Explanation

You're most likely to see a schooner in an old seaport or tourist harbor, since it's an old-fashioned kind of boat with at least two masts and sails. There are still places you can ride on a schooner, but schooners were most common along the east coast of the United States in the eighteenth century. Schooners were historically used for fishing and transporting cargo, and sometimes for racing. The word schooner was probably first used in Gloucester, Massachusetts, coined from the Scottish scon, "to send over water, to skip stones."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

schooner schooners

Behind them is the Bel Espoir, a schooner vessel on which the youths -- whether from Libya and Egypt or France and Bosnia -- have been sailing the Mediterranean to promote peace.

From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2025

Lake Superior’s first known commercial casualty, in 1816, was a schooner with a name that suggests hubris: the Invincible.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2025

The show is set on board the American Pride tall ship docked at Long Beach’s Pine Avenue Pier, a 130-foot schooner that today is primarily used as an education-focused vessel.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2025

As captain and first mate, they say piloting their 75-foot schooner has only strengthened their brotherly bond, with their small expedition team serving as an adoptive family.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2024

The bridge to the islands was opening for a two-masted schooner that was maneuvering down the inland waterway.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

As a young man, by his account, he smuggled diamonds, oversaw coconut plantations, dynamited fish, captained schooners and hunted killer cannibals in the New Guinea jungle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Time Out credited the "inexpensive Neapolitan pizzas and beer schooners" at Paesano as one of the highlights on the road.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2022

Bassi’s grandfather fished halibut back when schooners carried small dories out to the fishing grounds, which made the landing of a fish that can grow to 500 pounds all the more exciting.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2019

Make your way to Discovery Pier for the noon departure of the tall ship Manitou, a replica of cargo schooners that once sailed the Eastern Seaboard.

From New York Times ● Jul. 26, 2018

I looked at his hands and feet The skin was alligatored and cracked, tough from age and walking barefoot on the hot decks of schooners and freighters.

From "The Cay" by Theodore Taylor

Related Words

• vessel
• yacht