A small, light rowboat or sailing vessel used in the Mediterranean and Middle East, particularly common in Turkish and Greek waters.
From Turkish 'kayık', derived from Mongolian or Turkic roots meaning 'small boat'. The word entered European languages through maritime trade and contact with Ottoman maritime culture from the 16th century onward.
The caique design is so efficient that versions of it have been used for over 500 years around the Mediterranean—it's basically the perfect small fishing boat that Turkish and Greek fishermen never stopped improving!
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