skipper

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.

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.

The ship-based sense is a piecewise doublet of shipper — both trace back to the word ship, just through different paths into English.