Also, less correctly, batteau. Pl. bateaux. [Fr.:—OF. batel ‘boat,’ cogn. w. Sp. batel, It. battello, dim. of batto; cf. med.L. batellus, batus, battus, prob. from Teut., and ON. bátr, OE. bát, Eng. BOAT.] A light river boat; esp. the long tapering boats with flat bottoms used by the French Canadians. Bateau-bridge: a floating bridge supported by bateaux.
1759. Hist. Eur., in Ann. Reg., 44/2. Dangerous to venture his troops … upon the water in open batteaux.
1823. J. F. Cooper, Pioneer, xxiii. The batteau shot into the circle of light.
1848. Thoreau, Maine Woods, i. (1864), 4. The making of batteaux is quite a business here.
1884. G. A. Townsend, in Century Mag., April, 826/2. The bateau which was to carry Mr. Lincoln off was kept ready, and the oars and men were ever near at hand, to dispatch the illustrious captive.
