gondola
[ gon-dl-uh or especially for 1, gon-doh-luh ]
/ ˈgɒn dl ə or especially for 1, gɒnˈdoʊ lə /
noun
RELATED WORDS
dinghy, canoe, sailboat, yacht, craft, barge, raft, ship, catamaran, schooner, bottom, hulk, launch, skiff, bucket, bark, ark, lifeboat, ketch, steamboat
Nearby words
- goncourt,
- goncourt, edmond louis antoine huot de,
- gond,
- gondar,
- gondi,
- gondola back,
- gondoletta,
- gondolier,
- gondomar,
- gondwana
Origin of gondola
1540–50; < Italian < Venetian, probably < Medieval Greek kontoúra small boat used in coastal navigation, noun use of feminine of kóntouros short, clipped, literally, dock-tailed, equivalent to Late Greek kont(ós), kond(ós) short + Greek -ouros -tailed, adj. derivative of ourá tail
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for gondola
gondola
/ (ˈɡɒndələ) /
noun
a long narrow flat-bottomed boat with a high ornamented stem and a platform at the stern where an oarsman stands and propels the boat by sculling or punting: traditionally used on the canals of Venice
- a car or cabin suspended from an airship or balloon
- a moving cabin suspended from a cable across a valley, etc
a flat-bottomed barge used on canals and rivers of the US as far west as the Mississippi
US and Canadian a low open flat-bottomed railway goods wagon
a set of island shelves in a self-service shop: used for displaying goods
Canadian a broadcasting booth built close to the roof over an ice-hockey arena, used by commentators
Word Origin for gondola
C16: from Italian (Venetian dialect), from Medieval Latin gondula, perhaps ultimately from Greek kondu drinking vessel
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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gondola
1540s, from Italian (Venetian) gondola, earlier in English as goundel, from Old Italian gondula, of unknown origin; perhaps from Rhaeto-Romanic dialectal gondola "roll, rock," or perhaps a diminutive of gonda, name of a kind of boat. Meaning "cabin of an airship" is 1896, though it was used hypothetically in 1881 in a prediction piece titled "300 Years Hence":
You step into an aerial gondola ... and are at once borne upwards.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper