boater

English

Etymology

From Middle English botere; equivalent to boat +‎ -er. The use of the term for a straw hat stems from the fact that straw hats were the preferred head covering during sunny boat trips on canals and rivers.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbəʊt.ə/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈboʊ.tɚ/
(New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈbɐʉt.ɘ/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -əʊtə(ɹ)

Noun

boater (plural boaters)

(nautical) Someone who travels by boat.
(nautical) Synonym of boatman, particularly its captain.
- 1994, Bruce Berger, There Was a River, Tucson, A.Z., London: The University of Arizona Press, →ISBN, page 61:
  In the summer of 1992, eight beaches were closed and swimmers were warned away because of colliform bacteria, caused by boaters emptying toilets directly into the lake or onto nearby shores. Park officials may soon supply the lake with floating waste disposal systems.
(clothing) A straw hat, very stiff, with a flat brim and crown.
Synonyms: leghorn, basher, skimmer, Panama
- 2025 January 20, Jess Cartner-Morley, “Brimful of menace? Melania strikes sombre note at Trump inauguration”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:
  Technically, Melania Trump was in attendance, but she chose to make herself almost invisible. Her dark boater hat was worn so low that it threw her entire face into shadow, and made eye contact with cameras or guests impossible.

Derived terms

jetboater

Translations

someone who travels by boat

Chinese:
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 船工 (zh) (chuángōng)
Finnish: veneilijä (fi)
French: ^{(please verify)} canoteur (fr) m
German: Bootsfahrer m
Irish: bádóir m

straw hat

Chinese:
Mandarin: 硬草帽 (yìngcǎomào), 船工帽
French: canotier (fr) m
German: Kreissäge (de) f (literally “circular saw”) (colloquial), steifer Strohhut m
Irish: hata bádóra m
Italian: paglietta (it)
Japanese: カンカン帽 (かんかんぼう, kankan-bō)
Portuguese: chapéu-palheta m, palheta (pt) m, palhinha (pt) m
Russian: канотье́ (ru) n (kanotʹjé)
Spanish: canotier m

Anagrams

borate, orbate, rebato