Meaning
A boat or ship with two parallel hulls joined by a deck or bridge, prized for speed, stability, and deck space; used of everything from small sailing dinghies to giant ferries. It is a standard, neutral term in sailing, naval architecture, and travel writing. Neutral technical vocabulary; sailors routinely shorten it to 'cat'. Regional use: General English (borrowed from Tamil).
Origin
From Tamil kattumaram, literally 'tied wood' (kattu 'to tie, binding' plus maram 'tree, wood'), which named a raft of three to seven logs lashed together - a single-hulled craft, not the twin-hulled vessel the word now describes in English. European merchants in Asian waters carried the word home: Merriam-Webster dates the first known English use to 1673, when it meant an East Indian log raft. English experimentation with twin hulls began early - William Petty launched a double-ended 'double-boat' in 1662 - but the modern sailing sense was popularized by Nathanael Herreshoff, whose catamaran Amaryllis dominated the 1876 Centennial Regatta at the New York Yacht Club, after which the type was barred from regular racing classes until the 1970s.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- cat
- catamaran (catamarán)
- cats
Usage Examples
- The ferry company replaced its aging monohull with a catamaran that cuts the crossing time in half.
- On our last morning on the island we chartered a catamaran and snorkeled along the leeward reef.
- Naval architects studied the catamaran's twin hulls to explain its unusual stability in rough water.