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A yacht (From Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt") was originally defined as a light, fast sailing vessel used to convey important persons.

In later parlance, the definition came to cover a wider range of vessels, propelled by sail, power or both and used for pleasure cruising and/or yacht racing. Often, non-sailing yachts are also referred to as motor yachts, to differentiate them from yachts designed for use with sail power.

When Charles II was invited by Parliament to return as regent to Britain, he reasoned that the people of Britain wanted the best spectacle that he could manage. For the voyage across the channel from the protestant Netherlands he chose a sleek, fine-looking Dutch jachtschip, or "pursuit ship", which served the purpose admirably. Restoration day was a great success. Charles kept the jacht, or yacht, which was the first of its kind, and with it established the sport of yachting, one of his many firsts, and the royal family has had an official yacht ever since. Charles loved boating and advanced it considerably, to Britain's great advantage, as is shown by the evacuation from Dunkirk in early World War II. The yacht had many imitators.

In modern use, the term yacht applies to two rather different classes of vessels, sailing yachts and power yachts. Traditionally yachts were differentiated from working ships mainly by purpose - yachts were swift and comfortable conveyances of the wealthy and powerful. It was not until the ascendency of the steamboat and other types of powerboat that sailing vessels as a class became seen as luxury items. Modern use of the term yacht applies to nearly all sailing vessels, other than sailing dinghys, that are used for yacht racing or for pleasure cruising.

Motor yachts, on the other hand, still retain more of the original sense of power and luxury. Much larger and generally far more expensive than the average sailing yacht, the motor yacht contains sufficient living space for at least several days at sea. Overall length generally starts at over 30 feet (9 m) and goes up to well over a hundred feet (30 m). Megayachts such as the one owned by Larry Ellison, can reach over 450 feet (135m), the size of a small cruise ship. The 412 ft (125 m) Royal Yacht Britannia (a steam yacht) has been retired from service and is now on permanent exhibit at Leith.

A sailing yacht can vary in overall length (LOA in yachting parlance) from about 6 m (20 feet) to well over 30 m (98 ft) or more. However, most privately owned yachts fall on the range of about 7 m to 14 m (about 23-46 ft); the cost of building and keeping a yacht rises quickly as length increases.

Monohull yachts are typically fitted with a fixed or adjustable keel below the waterline to counterbalance the overturning force of wind on the vessel's sails. By contrast, multihull yachts (a catamaran is an example of this type of vessel) use two or more hulls widely separated from each other to provide a stable base that resists overturning.