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Glite Dictionary
skysail

skysail

9.9
A small sail set above the highest sail on a ship with square sails
  • noun
  • /ˈskaɪˌseɪl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : skysail
  • The crew adjusted the skysail to catch the strong winds high above the deck.

Examples

  • The skysails lifted and fell in the rocky shallows.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • With the skysail fully deployed, the ship moved swiftly across the open ocean.

  • High atop the mast, the skysail billowed proudly in the clear blue sky.

Surface Forms

skysail singular
skysails plural

Morphology

skysail = sky + sail (semi-transparent) = sky + sail

Formally a compound 'sky' + 'sail' so learners can see it is a type of sail, but the precise nautical sense (a small sail set above the royal sail) is specialised jargon not obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Skysail is made from the two simple words sky ('the air above us') and sail ('a piece of cloth that catches the wind'). It was named because this small sail is set so high it seems to be in the sky, which is why a skysail is the very highest sail on tall sailing ships.