sail
/seɪl/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.01 in modern English
4
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination of mast, spars and ropes.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The power harnessed by a sail or sails, or the use of this power for travel or transport.
Uncountable
noun
A tower-like structure found on the dorsal (topside) surface of submarines.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "When we haue laught to ſee the ſailes conceiue / And grow big bellied with the wanton winde; […]"
- "Take in sail: a storm is coming."
- "Let's go for a sail."
- "Twenty sail were in sight."
- ""[…] The quay is upwards of 1,000 feet in length, and capable of accommodating more than 100 sail of traders; and there are generally a considerable number of vessels of from 40 to 300 tons burden, from various parts of the world, waiting to receive their cargoes.""
- "So furious had been the gusts, that high buildings in town had had the lead stripped off their roofs; and in the country, trees had been torn up, and sails of windmills carried away; and gloomy accounts had come in from the coast, of shipwreck and death."
Etymology
From Middle English saile, sayle, seil, seyl, from Old English seġl, from Proto-West Germanic *segl, from Proto-Germanic *seglą. Cognate with West Frisian seil, Low German Segel, Dutch zeil, German Segel, Danish sejl, Swedish segel.
Origin
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W:Template:Sail Types
W:Parts of a sail