A boat powered by an internal engine or motor that propels it through water.
Compound of 'drive' (from Old English 'drifan', to propel forward) and 'boat' (from Old English 'bāt'). Combined in modern English to describe motorized watercraft.
The term 'driveboat' illustrates how English speakers combine existing words to name new inventions—just as the steam engine revolutionized transportation in the 1800s, people simply added 'drive' to existing vessel names to describe these mechanical marvels.
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