Editing Clipper (section)

==Origin and usage of "clipper"==
The etymological origin of the word clipper is uncertain, but is believed to be derived from the English language verb "to clip", which at the time meant "to run or fly swiftly".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Arthur Hamilton |title=The Clipper Ship Era |date=1910 |publisher=The Knickerbocker Press |isbn=9781015965065 |location=New York |pages=57}}</ref>

The first application of the term "clipper", in a nautical sense, is likewise uncertain. The type known as the [[Baltimore clipper]] originated at the end of the 18th century on the eastern seaboard of the USA.  At first, these fast sailing vessels were referred to as "Virginia-built" or "pilot-boat model", with the name "Baltimore-built" appearing during the [[War of 1812]]. In the final days of the slave trade (''circa'' 1835–1850){{snd}}just as the type was dying out{{snd}}the term, [[Baltimore clipper]], became common. The common retrospective application of the word "clipper" to this type of vessel has caused confusion.<ref name="Chapelle 1930">{{cite book |last1=Chapelle |first1=Howard Irving |author-link=Howard I. Chapelle|title=The Baltimore Clipper, its Origin and Development |year=1930 |publisher=Bonanza Books |location=New York}}</ref>{{rp|62-62}}

The Oxford English Dictionary's earliest quote (referring to the Baltimore clipper) is from 1824.<ref>{{OED|clipper|id=34438}}</ref> The dictionary cites [[Royal Navy]] officer and novelist [[Frederick Marryat]] as using the term in 1830.{{efn|Marryat is generally considered by maritime historians to be a reliable source on nautical matters from his time.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Batchvarov |first1=Kroum |title=The Merchant Ship in the British Atlantic, 1600–1800: Continuity and Innovation in a Key Technology |journal=International Journal of Nautical Archaeology |date=3 July 2021 |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=403–406 |doi=10.1080/10572414.2021.1987716}}</ref>}} British newspaper usage of the term can be found as early as 1832 and in shipping advertisements from 1835.<ref>{{cite news |title=Westmeath Journal |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000858/18320614/004/0001 |date=14 June 1832 |page=1 |quote=and may be called an American Clipper}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0002088/18351222/001/0001?browse=False |access-date=13 May 2020 |date=22 December 1835 |page=1 |quote=The well-known Clipper ''Saguenay''}}</ref> A US court case of 1834 has evidence that discusses a clipper being faster than a brig.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Gibert, Pedro | author2=United States. Circuit Court (1st Circuit) | title=A report of the trial of Pedro Gibert, Bernardo de Soto, Francisco Ruiz, Nicola Costa, Antonio Ferrer, Manuel Boyga, Domingo de Guzman, Juan Antonio Portana, Manuel Castillo, Angel Garcia, Jose Velazquez, and Juan Montenegro alias Jose Basilio de Castro, before the United States Circuit Court : on an indictment charging them with the commission of an act of piracy, on board the brig Mexican, of Salem : containing a full statement of the testimony, and the arguments of the counsel on both sides, the charge of the court, pronounced by the Hon. Judge Story : and the verdict of the jury : with an appendix containing several documents never before published |year=1834 | publisher=Russell, Odiorne & Metcalf; Providence : M. Brown & Co.; Portland : Colman & Chisholm; Salem : John M. Ives | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36470711 | access-date=15 September 2019 }}</ref>