topsail

topsail

English

Etymology

From Middle English topsail, topsayl, topseyle, topsaill, equivalent to top +‎ sail.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɑp.seɪl/, /ˈtɑp.səl/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɒp.seɪl/, /ˈtɒp.səl/

• Audio (UK)

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Noun

topsail (plural topsails)

1. (nautical) A sail or either of the two sails rigged just above the course sail and supported by the topmast on a square-rigged sailing ship.
2. (nautical) In a fore-and-aft-rigged sailing boat, the sail that is set above the gaff at the top part of the mast.

Translations

sail above the course sail

Dutch: bovenzeil n Finnish: märssypurje French: hunier (fr) m German: Toppsegel n Irish: bairbíneach m, barréadach m, barrsheol m, seol bairr m

Norman: heune f, heuniéthe f, tâp-sèle f Norwegian: Bokmål: toppseil n Spanish: gavia (es) f Tagalog: gabya

Anagrams

• 'ospital, apostil