From Dutch 'sloep,' related to 'sluipen' (to glide)—named for the vessel's ability to slip quietly through water.
A single-masted sailing vessel with a fore-and-aft mainsail and a single jib.
From Dutch 'sloep,' related to 'sluipen' (to glide, to slip). The vessel was named for its ability to glide quietly through coastal waters. Dutch maritime vocabulary flooded into English during the 17th-century Anglo-Dutch naval rivalry. Key roots: sluipen (Dutch: "to glide, to slip quietly").