bateau

UK: English: /bæˈtəʊ/, French: /bato/

US: (ba tō′; Fr. ba tō′)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ba•teau  (ba tō′; Fr. ba tō′), n., pl. -teaux 

(-tōz′; Fr. -tō′). 
1. Dialect Terms, Naval Terms Also, batteau. [Naut.]
   • , Nautical, British Terms, Dialect Terms [Chiefly Canadian and Southern U.S.] a small, flat-bottomed rowboat used on rivers.
   • Nautical a half-decked, sloop-rigged boat used for fishing on Chesapeake Bay;
     skipjack.
   • Nautical (in some regions) a scow.
2. Civil Engineering, Naval Terms a pontoon of a floating bridge.

• Latin -ellus; see -elle
• Old English bāt boat) + -el diminutive suffix
• French; Old French batel, equivalent. to bat (
• 1705–15, American.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bateau / bæˈtəʊ bato/ noun ( -teaux / -təʊz -to/)

1. a light flat-bottomed boat used on rivers in Canada and the northern US

Etymology: 18th Century: from French: boat, from Old French batel, from Old English bāt; see boat