skipper
SKIP-er · noun
Origin
In one line, it comes from Middle English skippere, borrowed from Middle Dutch scipper, itself from ship (Old Dutch *skipāri) — literally, one who works a ship. In a separate, unrelated line, it comes from Middle English skippere formed from skip plus -er, naming one who skips.
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Journey
The ship-sense word settled into English as the everyday title for a boat's captain. The skip-sense word came to name quick, darting creatures like grasshoppers and certain butterflies, still called skippers today.
Related words
The ship-based sense is a piecewise doublet of shipper — both trace back to the word ship, just through different paths into English.