kayak

kayak (KAI-ak) - n., a light narrow boat that has both ends tapered to a point and a surface deck that is propelled by sitting person with a double-bladed paddle, specifically: a) a traditional boat of Inuit, Aleut, and Yupik made of a frame of wood or bone covered with animal skin that closes watertightly around the waist; b) a modern boat that resembles this, typically made of wood or fiberglass.


A traditional one, being used by a seal-hunter with a harpoon:


Thanks, WikiMedia!

Also a verb, to travel by kayak. A flexible purpose boat, made in different styles for different environments -- originally, it was mostly a hunter's boat. We got the word in the 1750s from Inuktitut name qayaq, where the qai- part means surface/top.

---L.