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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

English

ship

/ˈʃɪp/
A water-borne vessel generally larger than a boat.

    Etymology graph

    • inherited
    • borrowed
    • derived
    • parts
    • meaning component
    • sound component
    • related
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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English chip, schepe, schip, schup, scip, scippe, ship, shup, ssip, from Old English sċip, sċyp, from Proto-West Germanic *skip, from Proto-Germanic *skipą (“ship; tub, vessel”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to split”). More at shift.

    Cognates

    Cognate with North Frisian schap, skap, Skep (“ship”), Saterland Frisian Schip, Skip (“ship”), West Frisian skip (“ship”), Central Franconian Scheff (“ship”), Dutch schip (“ship”), German Schiff (“ship”), Low German Schipp (“ship”), Luxembourgish Schëff (“ship”), Vilamovian śejf, siejft (“ship”), Yiddish שיף (shif, “ship”), Danish skib (“ship”), Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk skip (“ship”), Swedish skepp (“ship”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌹𐍀 (skip, “ship”).

    Compare typologically boat, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd-.

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English schippen, schipen, from Old English sċipian, from Proto-West Germanic *skipōn, from Proto-Germanic *skipōną, from Proto-Germanic *skipą (“ship”). Doublet of equip.

    Etymology 3

    Clipping of relationship.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishschip
      • inheritedOld Englishscip
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*skip
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*skipą “ship”
    • derivedEnglishrelationship “A connection or association; the condition of being related.”
      • partEnglishrelation “The manner in which two things may be associated.”
        • inheritedMiddle Englishrelacion
          • derivedAnglo-Normanrelacioun
      • partEnglish-ship “Appended to a noun to form a new noun denoting a property or state of being, time spent in a role, …”
        • inheritedMiddle English-schipe
          • inheritedOld English-sċiepe
    • rootProto-Indo-European*skey- “to dissect; to split”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishschippen
      • inheritedOld Englishsċipian
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*skipōn
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*skipōną “to ship, sail, embark”

    Related: English equip (doublet), North Frisian schap, Saterland Frisian Schip, West Frisian skip, Central Franconian Scheff, Dutch schip, German Schiff, Low German Schipp, Luxembourgish Schëff, Vilamovian śejf, Yiddish שיף, Danish skib, fo,is,nb,nn skip, Swedish skepp, Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌹𐍀

    Meanings

    noun
    1. A water-borne vessel generally larger than a boat.
    2. A vessel which travels through any medium other than across land, such as an airship or spaceship.
    3. A spaceship.
    4. A particular still life consisting of an empty cell surrounded by six live cells.
    5. A sailing vessel with three or more square-rigged masts.
    6. A dish or utensil (originally fashioned like the hull of a ship) used to hold incense.
    verb
    1. To send by water-borne transport.
    2. To send (a parcel or container) to a recipient (by any means of transport).
    3. To release (a product, not necessarily physical) to vendors or customers; to launch.
    4. To engage to serve on board a vessel.
    5. To embark on a ship.
    6. To put or secure in its place.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: ship