fore staysail
- noun
- Specialized
:
vela de proa
- When the wind picked up, they quickly raised the fore staysail to improve their speed.
Examples
-
Set your fore staysail and your fore and main topsails.
-
The captain instructed the crew to trim the fore staysail for better maneuverability.
-
The sailors adjusted the fore staysail to catch the morning breeze.
Synonyms
13
8.6
A triangular sail set at the front of a boat
1
9.9
A small sail fixed to a rope between two masts to help move the boat
1
8.0
A sail at the front of a boat that helps steer and balance it
A small triangular sail set just ahead of the front mast on a large sailing ship
Surface Forms
Morphology
A learner who knows 'fore' (toward the ship's bow) and 'staysail' (a type of sail) can infer that this is a staysail positioned toward the front of the ship, so the basic compositional sense is accessible. However, the exact technical specification (innermost jib set just ahead of the foremast on a large square‑rigged ship) is specialized nautical knowledge and not fully predictable from the constituents, making it only partially transparent.
Etymology
Fore staysail comes from old sailing ships: fore means 'front' and a staysail is a sail hung on a 'stay', a strong rope. The fore staysail sat just in front of the foremast, so the name now refers to that specific sail used to steady and help steer the ship.