Plural of cabot; old nautical term for a type of ship or vessel used in coastal trading.
From Portuguese cabot or from the family name Cabot, referring to 15th-century explorers. The term entered English maritime vocabulary through trade and navigation contexts, possibly conflating the explorer name with ship types.
The Cabot family were legendary explorers, and their name became so associated with ocean voyages that it actually became a word for ships themselves—a fascinating case of a proper noun transforming into a common noun through maritime history.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.