gondola

Where does the word "gondola" come from? It comes from Venetian Italian gondola, and was adopted directly into English (1500s).

Gondola’s story begins in Venetian Italian: gondola meant “a Venetian canal boat.” The flat-bottomed rowing boat traditionally used on the canals of Venice. It reached English by 1500s as gondola. Venetian law of 1562 required gondolas to be painted black; the word later named airship and cable-car cabins. Today, gondola means a narrow flat-bottomed boat used on the canals of Venice, or a suspended cabin.

1. Stage 1 · Venetian Italian · medieval gondola "a Venetian canal boat", the flat-bottomed rowing boat traditionally used on the canals of Venice.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1500s gondola "a narrow flat-bottomed Venetian boat", Venetian law of 1562 required gondolas to be painted black; the word later named airship and cable-car cabins.