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lateen

[la-teen, luh-]
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adjective
  1. pertaining to or having a lateen sail or sails.
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Origin of lateen

1720–30; < French (voile) latine Latin (sail)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lateen

Historical Examples

  • A bilander was a small two-master, with the mainsail of lateen form.

    Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period

    Various

  • It was after ten before his lateen sail flapped in the little cove.

  • A “lateener” is a vessel rigged with a lateen sail and yard.

  • Fusta—a sort of galley, very small and open, with lateen sails.

    The Infidel, Vol. I.

    Robert Montgomery Bird

  • Like a rabbit seeking its burrow, the lateen dived fogwards.

    The Pursuit

    Frank (Frank Mackenzie) Savile

British Dictionary definitions for lateen

lateen

adjective
  1. nautical denoting a rig with a triangular sail (lateen sail) bent to a yard hoisted to the head of a low mast, used esp in the Mediterranean
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Word Origin

C18: from French voile latine Latin sail
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for lateen

mid-18c., phonetic spelling of French latine in voile latine, literally "Latin sail" (see Latin). So called because it was used in the Mediterranean.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper