lateen

[la-teen, luh-]

adjective

pertaining to or having a lateen sail or sails.

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 of lateen

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.
Sally Dows and Other Stories
Bret Harte
A “lateener” is a vessel rigged with a lateen sail and yard.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 2
Various
Fusta—a sort of galley, very small and open, with lateen sails.
The Infidel, Vol. I.
Robert Montgomery Bird
He was sitting disconsolate in the cockpit of the lateen Esmeralda.
The Pursuit
Frank (Frank Mackenzie) Savile

British Dictionary definitions for lateen

lateen

adjective

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

Word Origin for lateen

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.