means A boat propelled by the wind acting on one or more sails, rather than by an engine or oars.

from A plain English compound of "sail" plus "boat." "Sail" descends from Old English "segl," a word shared across the Germanic seafaring tongues (compare Dutch "zeil" and German "Segel"), and "boat" from Old English "bāt." The two have been lashed together since speakers needed to distinguish a wind-driven hull from one driven by other means — a distinction that only really mattered once steam and engines gave boats a rival to the breeze.