Greek word · G4142

πλοιάριον

ploiarion

small boat

Ploion: a boat or ship of any size. Ploiarion: in form the diminutive 'little boat', but in Koine Greek it often lost that 'smallness' and simply meant 'boat'.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 30, 2026

What it means

πλοιάριον, -ου, τό

(dimin. of πλοῖον),

a boat: Mark 3:9, Luke 5:2 (πλοῖα, WH, txt., R), John 6:22-23 (πλοῖα, WH) John 6:24 21:8.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of John 6:22

Range of meaning: Ploion: a boat or ship of any size. Ploiarion: in form the diminutive 'little boat', but in Koine Greek it often lost that 'smallness' and simply meant 'boat'.
Against the English: YLT keeps 'little boat' and NASB says 'small boat', which preserves the form of the word. Most versions just say 'boat', which is fair given that John uses the two words interchangeably.
Used elsewhere in the period: In John 6:17–24 and 21:3–8 the two words alternate for the same vessels. In 1986 a 1st-century fishing boat was recovered near Ginosar on the lake's northwest shore. It is about 8.2 m long and 2.3 m wide and could carry roughly a dozen or more people, which suits Jesus and the Twelve (Wachsmann). Josephus mentions about 230 boats he gathered at Tiberias (Jewish War 2.635; Life 163), which shows how busy the boat traffic on the lake was.

From the study of John 6:23

Range of meaning: In form a diminutive of πλοῖον ("ship, boat"), so "small boat, skiff." In Koine Greek, diminutives often lost their sense of smallness, and the word could mean an ordinary boat.
Against the English: YLT ("little boats") and NASB ("small boats") keep the diminutive. KJV, BSB, WEB and NIV just say "boats." Both are defensible.
Used elsewhere in the period: BDAG lists it as "small ship, boat" and notes that it overlaps with πλοῖον. John 6:22 uses both words of the same disciples' boat. Mark 3:9 uses it for a boat kept ready for Jesus. The "Galilee boat" found in 1986 near Ginosar is a working fishing boat of the first century BC to first century AD, about 8 metres long, and it shows what such vessels were like.

From the study of John 6:24

Range of meaning: Small boat, skiff (a diminutive of πλοῖον, 'boat'). In practice, small diminutives were often used with little difference in meaning.
Against the English: KJV/BSB/WEB/YLT say 'boats'. NASB's 'small boats' keeps the diminutive.
Used elsewhere in the period: Used in John 6:22–24 and 21:8 and in Mark 3:9. In everyday papyri, diminutive forms like this are common and often mean little more than the base word.

Where it appears

Mark · 1

Mark 3:9 πλοιάριον a boat

Jesus asked His disciples to have a boat ready for Him so that the crowd would not crush Him.

John · 4

John 6:22 πλοιάριον boat

The next day, the crowd that had remained on the other side of the sea realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded it with His disciples, but they had gone away alone.

Here: In form a diminutive ('little boat'), but by this period it was often just a word for 'boat'. John switches freely between it and ploion.
John 6:23 πλοιάρια boats

However, some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

Here: Small fishing boats. The form is a diminutive (literally "little boat"), but by this period the "small" force had largely faded. John switches between this word and the ordinary πλοῖον in 6:17–24 with no clear difference.
John 6:24 πλοιάρια boats

So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Him.

Here: Diminutive of 'boat'. These are ordinary small craft of the lake, fishing or ferrying boats, not ships.
John 21:8 πλοιαρίῳ boat

The other disciples came ashore in the boat. They dragged in the net full of fish, for they were not far from land, only about a hundred yards.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.