square sail

American  

noun

Nautical.

1. a sail set beneath a horizontal yard, the normal position of which, when not trimmed to the wind, is directly athwartships.

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square sail British  

noun

1. nautical a rectangular or square sail set on a horizontal yard rigged more or less athwartships

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Etymology

Origin of square sail

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

There was no sign of an anchor, a mast or the square sail typically used by Mediterranean trade ships of the time.

From New York Times • Jun. 20, 2024

Then we set up a low-rigged square sail which steadied the Rofa.

From Time Magazine Archive

A crude steering oar swung astern; a big, archaic square sail drooped drunkenly from the mast, and the cabin aft was a bamboo hut thatched with banana leaves.

From Time Magazine Archive

The ship is about 65 ft. long, rigged for a single square sail.

From Time Magazine Archive

Downward from this yard he wove on the wind's loom a sail of spells, a square sail white as the snows on Gont peak above.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin