Illustration from 1908 Chambers's Twentieth Century. <b>Sloop</b>, <i>n.</i> a light boat: a one-masted cutter-rigged vessel, differing from a cutter, according to old authorities, in having a fixed bowsprit and somewhat smaller sails in proportion to the hull.
Rev. Thomas Davidson 1856-1923 (<i>ed.</i>)
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language