felucca

Where does the word "felucca" come from? It comes from Arabic fulk, passing through Italian before entering English (1600s).

Felucca’s story begins in Arabic: fulk meant “ship, boat.” A general Arabic word for a boat or ship. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Italian as feluca. Adopted for the traditional Mediterranean sailing vessel. It reached English by 1600s as felucca. First recorded in 1615 in George Sandys's account of his journey through the Ottoman lands; still used as sailing boats on the Nile at Aswan. Today, felucca means a traditional wooden sailboat used on the Nile and Mediterranean.

1. Stage 1 · Arabic · medieval fulk "ship, boat", a general Arabic word for a boat or ship.
2. Stage 2 · Italian · medieval feluca "a small sailing vessel", adopted for the traditional Mediterranean sailing vessel.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1600s felucca "a traditional lateen-sailed boat", first recorded in 1615 in George Sandys's account of his journey through the Ottoman lands; still used as sailing boats on the Nile at Aswan.