noun
- Nautical. any of various types of sailing vessel having a foremast and mainmast, with or without other masts, and having fore-and-aft sails on all lower masts.See also ketch, topsail schooner, yawl1(def 2).
- a very tall glass, as for beer.
- prairie schooner.
noun
- a sailing vessel with at least two masts, with all lower sails rigged fore-and-aft, and with the main mast stepped aft
- British a large glass for sherry
- US, Canadian, Australian and NZ a large glass for beer
n.fore-and-aft rigged vessel, originally with only two masts, 1716, perhaps from a New England verb related to Scottish scon “to send over water, to skip stones.” Skeat relates this dialectal verb to shunt. Spelling probably influenced by Dutch, but Dutch schoener is a loan-word from English, as are German Schoner, French schooner, Swedish skonert. Said to have originated in Gloucester, Mass., shipyard. The rig characteristic of a schooner has been defined as consisting essentially of two gaff sails, the after sail not being smaller than the fore, and a head sail set on a bowsprit. [OED] Meaning “tall beer glass” is from 1879, of unknown origin or connection.