definitions

bateau

[ ba-toh; French ba-toh ]
/ bæˈtoʊ; French baˈtoʊ /
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bateau ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural ba·teaux [ba-tohz; French ba-toh] /bæˈtoʊz; French baˈtoʊ/.

Also batteau. Nautical.
  1. Chiefly Canadian and Southern U.S.. a small, flat-bottomed rowboat used on rivers.
  2. a half-decked, sloop-rigged boat used for fishing on Chesapeake Bay; skipjack.
  3. (in some regions) a scow.
a pontoon of a floating bridge.

RELATED WORDS

craft, barge, boat, liner, tanker, dinghy, canoe, sailboat, yacht, raft, ship, catamaran, schooner, gondola, bottom, bucket, can, bark, steamer, tub

Nearby words

batboy, batch, batch plant, batch processing, bate, bateau, bateau neck, bated, bated breath, bateleur, bateleur eagle

Origin of bateau

1705–15, Americanism; < French; Old French batel, equivalent to bat (< Old English bāt boat) + -el diminutive suffix < Latin -ellus; see -elle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bateau

British Dictionary definitions for bateau

bateau

/ (bæˈtəʊ, French bato) /

noun plural -teaux (-təʊz, French -to)

a light flat-bottomed boat used on rivers in Canada and the northern US

Word Origin for bateau

C18: from French: boat, from Old French batel, from Old English bāt; see boat
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bateau

bateau

n.

French-Canadian river boat, 1711, from French bateau, from Old French batel, from Germanic (see boat (n.)).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper