polacren.

Etymology: Origin uncertain, with regard to both immediate etymon and ultimate source. In α. forms probably < French polacre (1600 in a text from Nice); further origin uncertain and disputed. Compare Occitan polacra (17th cent. in plural poulacros in a source from Nîmes), Catalan pollacra, Spanish polacra (1645 or earlier; also as †polacre (1709)), Portuguese †polhacra (1720), polacra (1831 or earlier, now rare)), Italian polacra (a1840; < French polacre). In β and γ forms < one or more Romance languages: compare French †polaque (1667; probably < Italian polacca: see discussion below), Catalan pollaca (1642 or earlier; earlier as pullaca (1614; now regional (Mallorca)), Spanish polaca (1645 or earlier), Portuguese polaca (1627 as polâca), Italian polacca (1614 in plural polacche; the form pollacca is apparently not attested until much later (late 19th cent.)).With the form polacco compare the etymological discussion at olio n., and compare also -ado suffix. In form polaque apparently after French †polaque. Like the boat which it denotes, the word is widespread around the Mediterranean, and it is not clear in which language it originated. In any case, it was widely borrowed both between the Romance languages and into other European languages; compare e.g. Dutch polakker (1687), German Polacke , Polacker (19th cent. or earlier in these forms; earlier as †Polacren (plural) (1694), †Polacca (a1754 or earlier)). Although the β and γ forms of the word, and their etymons and parallels in Romance and Germanic languages, often closely resemble Italian polacco (adjective) Polish (see Polack n.) or its parallels in other languages, there is no evidence for a Polish origin of the vessel, and the formal similarity is apparently either coincidental or due to folk etymology. B. E. Vidos Storia delle parole marinaresche italiane passate in francese (1939) 538–40 claimed that the forms with medial -r- developed in French, and that the French word was borrowed < Italian polacca . Both of these points have been called into question, most notably in J. Corominas Diccionario crítico etimológico de la lengua castellana (1985) s.v. polacra. Although Corominas's alternative views (see below) are not generally accepted, it does seem more likely that the French form with medial -r- was borrowed from Occitan, Catalan, or Spanish, in all of which corresponding forms are attested (although apparently at least slightly later); however, many details of transmission between the various Romance languages remain unclear. As to the ulterior etymology of the word, it has been suggested that the word may ultimately derive < an unattested post-classical Latin form *pelagica , use as noun (short for pelagica navis seagoing ship) of feminine of classical Latin pelagicus pelagic adj., but if so the phonological development is difficult to explain (perhaps compare Italian regional (northern) words which show a development of Latin e to o , e.g. Italian regional (Venice) dolfino dolphin n.). Alternatively, Corominas suggests the word may be derived < Catalan polla young animal (see pull n.²) + -aca (in carraca carrack n.), the light vessel being compared to a young animal on account of its size. However, none of these etymologies is generally accepted. See also Französisches Etymol. Wörterbuch XXIII. 92/1.