A small, fast sailing ship with one or more masts used historically for trading, fishing, or light naval purposes.
From Dutch 'gallioot', which came from Italian 'galeotta', a diminutive of 'galea' (galley), a Mediterranean ship; the word traveled along trade routes as the ship design spread across Europe.
Galliots were the startup vessels of the 17th-18th century ocean trade—smaller and cheaper than galleons but fast enough to outrun pirates, they were favored by merchant families who wanted speed without the huge investment of a large warship.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.