caravel

American  

[kar-uh-vel] / ˈkær əˌvɛl /

noun

1. a small Spanish or Portuguese sailing vessel of the Middle Ages and later, usually lateen-rigged on two or three masts.

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caravel British  

/ ˈkærəˌvɛl /

noun

1. a two- or three-masted sailing ship, esp one with a broad beam, high poop deck, and lateen rig that was used by the Spanish and Portuguese in the 15th and 16th centuries

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Etymology

Origin of caravel

1520–30; < Middle French car ( a ) velle < Portuguese caravela, equivalent to cárav ( o ) kind of ship (< Late Latin carabus a small wicker boat < Greek kárabos skiff, crayfish) + -ela diminutive suffix