Sloop is Dutch, borrowed in the 1620s from sloep, and it belongs to the great mass of sailing vocabulary English took from the Dutch — deck, dock, cruise, yacht, skipper, boss. When one nation dominates a trade, its words come with the trade.
The Dutch word's own origin is disputed. It may be from French chaloupe, from Old French chalupe, "small sloop-rigged vessel," which is perhaps related to English shallop. Alternatively it may be native Dutch, from Middle Dutch slupen, "to glide," which would make it a straightforwardly Germanic word for a boat that slips through the water. In old military use a sloop was a small warship carrying guns only on the upper deck.
sloop (n.) 1620s, "small fore-and-aft rigged vessel with one mast, generally carrying a jib, fore-stay sail, mainsail, and gaff-topsail" [Century Dictionary], from Dutch sloep "a sloop;" probably from French chaloupe , from Old French chalupe "small, sloop-rigged vessel," which is perhaps related to English shallop [OED]. But according to Barnhart and Watkins the Dutch word might simply be from Middle Dutch slupen "to glide," from PIE root *sleubh- . In old military use, a small ship of war carrying guns on the upper deck only (1670s). Related: Sloop-rigged . also from 1620s
sloop came in through Later and wider borrowings, and its spelling follows that family's conventions.
What gives it away on the page
| sea, trade, and art vocabulary | Dutch and Low German, from centuries of shipping and painting.skipper, deck, yacht, sloop, dock, easel, landscape, boss |
Placing it without the spelling
| sailing, trade, and painting | Dutchdeck, sloop, yacht, easel |
Later and wider borrowings in the spelling guide · guess another word's family