Parasailed

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To be elevated into the air while being harnessed to a parachute that is towed behind a boat
2. Engaging in a recreational activity that combines flying with a parachute attached to a person being pulled by a moving watercraft
3. Experiencing the sensation of gliding above the water while being suspended from a parachute as it is pulled along by a vehicle

Etymology: The "para" in parasail is a clipped piece of "parachute," which English borrowed in the 1780s from French. French formed "parachute" from "para-," from Italian "parare" ("to shield"), and "chute" ("fall"), so the original sense is roughly "fall-protector." The word was first recorded in the 1780s, when balloonists experimented with descent devices. "Sail" joined it much later, when the sport of being towed aloft behind a boat took shape in the twentieth century, most likely in the 1960s. The compound describes the activity directly: a parachute-like canopy catches the wind like a sail. "Parasailed" is the simple past tense and past participle of the verb "parasail," formed by adding the regular "-ed" ending.

Synonyms: parasailing