small boat
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GC: n

S: UNODC – https://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/Migrant_smuggling_in_North_Africa_June_2010_ebook_E_09-87293.pdf (last access: 4 June 2023); JSTOR – https://www.jstor.org/stable/44148674 (last access: 4 June 2023).

N: 1. – small (adj): Middle English smal, smale, from Old English smæl “thin, slender, narrow; fine,” from Proto-Germanic *smal- “small animal; small” (source also of Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish, Middle Dutch, Dutch, Old High German smal, Old Frisian smel, German schmal “narrow, slender,” Gothic smalista “smallest,” Old Norse smali “small cattle, sheep”), perhaps from a PIE root *(s)melo- “smaller animal” (source also of Greek melon, Old Irish mil “a small animal;” Old Church Slavonic malu “bad”).

– boat (n): “small open vessel (smaller than a ship) used to cross waters, propelled by oars, a sail, or (later) an engine,” Middle English bot, from Old English bat, from Proto-Germanic *bait- (source also of Old Norse batr, Dutch boot, German Boot), which is possibly from PIE root *bheid- “to split” (Watkins), if the notion is of making a boat by hollowing out a tree trunk or from split planking. Or it may be an extension of the name for some part of a ship.
French bateau “boat” is from Old English or Norse. Spanish batel, Italian battello, Medieval Latin batellus likewise probably are from Germanic languages. Of serving vessels resembling a boat, by 1680s (ship for “serving vessel or utensil shaped like a ship” is attested by 1520s). The image of being in the same boat “subject to similar challenges and difficulties” is by 1580s; to rock the boat “disturb stability” is from 1914.

2. A ‘small boat’ is one of a number of vessels used by individuals who cross the English Channel, with the aim of gaining entry to the UK without a visa or permission to enter – either directly by landing in the UK or having been intercepted at sea by the authorities and brought ashore. The most common small vessels detected making these types of crossings are rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIBs), dinghies and kayaks.

3. Other terms to be used according to context: migrant boat, small migrant(s) boat, small fishing boat.

4. Depending on context: small boat (patera); dugout canoe (cayuco); dinghy (bote neumático, zódiac).

S: 1. OED – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=small+boat (last access: 4 June 2023). 2. GOV.UK – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migrants-detected-crossing-the-english-channel-in-small-boats/migrants-detected-crossing-the-english-channel-in-small-boats-last-7-days (last access: 4 June 2023). 3. The Guardian – https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/aug/08/the-vanishing-peril-haunts-the-canaries-migrant-freedom-route (last access: 4 June 2023); CNN – https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2016/08/world/dangerous-migrant-crossings-mediterranean/ (last access: 4 June 2023); UNHCR – https://www.unhcr.org/my/sites/en-my/files/legacy-pdf/49e479ca0.pdf (last access: 4 June 2023); EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/technology/dinghy (last access: 4 June 2023). 4. SpDict – https://www.spanishdict.com/compare/cayuco/patera (last access: 4 June 2023); https://www.ingles.com/comparar/pateras/cayucos (last access: 4 June 2023).

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CR: balsero, boatman, boat people, emigrant, emigration, immigrant, immigrated person, immigration, international migration, irregular migration, migrant, migration, raft, rafter, refugee, wetbacks.