A craftsperson or artisan who builds, constructs, or repairs boats; a boat builder or boat maker.
Compound of 'boat' and 'wright' (Old English 'wryhta', meaning 'maker' or 'builder'). The '-wright' suffix appears in 'playwright', 'wheelwright', and 'shipwright', all meaning makers of their specific items.
Boatwright is actually more historically accurate than 'shipbuilder'—in the Middle Ages, a 'wright' was a highly skilled craftsperson with years of training, and boatwrights had their own powerful guilds that controlled the profession!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.