Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

sail

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Remove ads
See also: Sail, SAIL, sáil, sàil, saïl, and -sail

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

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.

Noun

sail (countable and uncountable, plural sails)

  2. (nautical) 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.
  3. (nautical, uncountable) The concept of a sail or sails, as if a substance.
    Synonym: canvass
    Take in sail: a storm is coming.
  4. (uncountable) The power harnessed by a sail or sails, or the use of this power for travel or transport.
  5. A trip in a boat, especially a sailboat.
    Let's go for a sail.
  6. (dated, plural "sail") A sailing vessel; a vessel of any kind; a craft.
    Twenty sail were in sight.
    • 1945 May and June, Charles E. Lee, “The Penrhyn Railway and its Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 142, text published 1848:
      " […] 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."
  7. (nautical) The conning tower of a submarine.
  8. The blade of a windmill.
    • 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter XX, in Great Expectations […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 327:
      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.
  9. A tower-like structure found on the dorsal (topside) surface of submarines.
  10. The floating organ of siphonophores, such as the Portuguese man-of-war.
  11. (fishing) A sailfish.
    We caught three sails today.
  12. (paleontology) an outward projection of the spine, occurring in certain dinosaurs and synapsids
  13. Anything resembling a sail, such as a wing.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2

From Middle English sailen, saylen, seilen, seilien, from Old English seġlan, siġlan (“to sail”), from Proto-West Germanic *siglijan, from *siglijaną. Cognate with West Frisian sile, Low German seilen, Dutch zeilen, German segeln, Danish sejle, Swedish segla, Icelandic sigla.

Verb

sail (third-person singular simple present sails, present participle sailing, simple past and past participle sailed)

  2. To be impelled or driven forward by the action of wind upon sails, as a ship on water; to be impelled on a body of water by steam or other power.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto IX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
      Fair ship, that from the Italian shore,
      ⁠Sailest the placid ocean-plains
      ⁠With my lost Arthur’s loved remains,
      Spread thy full wings, and waft him o’er.
  3. To move through or on the water; to swim, as a fish or a waterfowl.
  4. To ride in a boat, especially a sailboat.
  5. (intransitive) To set sail; to begin a voyage.
    We sail for Australia tomorrow.
  6. To move briskly and gracefully through the air.
    • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
      As is a winged messenger of heaven, […] / When he bestrides the lazy pacing clouds, / And sails upon the bosom of the air.
    • 2002 March 20, Kazuki Takahashi, Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories (PlayStation video game, North American version), Konami:
      [flavor text of the card "Spirit of the Winds"] A spirit of the wind that freely sails the skies.
    • 2011 April 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Norwich 2 - 1 Nott'm Forest”, in BBC Sport‎:
      A hopeful ball from Forest right-back Brendan Moloney to the left edge of the area was met first by Ruddy but his attempted clearance rebounded off Tyson's leg and sailed in.
  7. (intransitive) To move briskly but sedately.
    The duchess sailed haughtily out of the room.
  8. (card games, transitive) To deal out (cards) from a distance by impelling them across a surface.
    • 2007, Johnny Hughes, Texas Poker Wisdom, page 22:
      He would sit his hat across the room, and we would sail cards into it.
Derived terms
Translations

Further reading

Anagrams

Remove ads

Basque

Etymology

Borrowed from Romance, compare Old French seille.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /s̺ai̯l/ [s̺ai̯l]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -ai̯l
  • Hyphenation: sail

Noun

sail inan

  1. plot (area or land)
    Synonym: alor
  2. scope, field
    Synonyms: arlo, alor
  3. department (subdivision of an organization)

Declension

More information indefinite, singular ...

Derived terms

  • sailburu (“head of a department”)
  • sailburuorde (“deputy head of a department”)
  • sailburuordetza (“subdepartment”)
  • sailean
  • sailka
  • sailkaezin (“unclassifiable”)
  • sailkagailu (“sorter”)
  • sailkapen (“classification”)
  • sailkatu (“to classify”)
  • sailkatzaile (“classifier”)
  • sailkatze (“classification, classifying”)
  • sailordetza (“subdepartment”) (proscribed)

Further reading

  • “sail”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
  • “sail”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005
Remove ads

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English sail. Doublet of zeil.

Pronunciation

Noun

sail n (plural sails, no diminutive)

  1. (nautical) the fin or sail of a submarine
    Synonym: toren

Irish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old Irish sal, from Proto-Celtic *salā.

Noun

sail f (genitive singular saile)

  1. dirt, dross, impurity
    sail mhiotail ― metal dross
  2. stain, defilement
    sail pheaca ― the stain of sin
Declension
More information bare forms, singular ...
Alternative forms
Derived terms

Further reading

Etymology 2

    From Old Irish sail, from Proto-Celtic *salixs (whence also Welsh helyg, Breton halegen).

    Noun

    sail f (genitive singular saileach, nominative plural saileacha)

    1. willow (any of various trees or shrubs in the genus Salix)
    Declension
    More information bare forms, singular ...

    Variant declension:

    More information bare forms, singular ...
    Derived terms

    Further reading

    Mutation

    More information radical, lenition ...

    Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
    All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

    Remove ads

    Old Irish

    Portuguese

    Volapük

    Welsh

    Wikiwand - on

    Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

    Remove ads
    Remove ads