Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Jump to:
  • bonaventure
    bonaventure
    noun
    a mast fitted with a lateen sail bonaventure mizzen or lugsail, situated behind the mizzenmast at or near the stern, used in the 16th and early 17th centuries.
  • Bonaventure
    Bonaventure
    noun
    Saint the Seraphic Doctor, 1221–74, Italian scholastic theologian.

bonaventure

1 American  
[bon-uh-ven-cher, bon-uh-ven-] / ˈbɒn əˌvɛn tʃər, ˌbɒn əˈvɛn- /

noun

Nautical.

  1. a mast fitted with a lateen sail bonaventure mizzen or lugsail, situated behind the mizzenmast at or near the stern, used in the 16th and early 17th centuries.

Bonaventure 2 American  
[bon-uh-ven-cher, bon-uh-ven-] / ˈbɒn əˌvɛn tʃɛr, ˌbɒn əˈvɛn- /

noun

  1. Saint the Seraphic Doctor, 1221–74, Italian scholastic theologian.

Etymology

Origin of bonaventure

First recorded in 1490–1500, bonaventure is from the Italian word buonaventura literally, good luck. See bonus, venture

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The French for lugsail is voile de fortune, and a still earlier name, which occurs also in Tudor English, is bonaventure, i.e., good luck.

From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.