sail

Pronunciation

• IPA: /seɪl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English seil, inherited from Old English segl (“sail, veil, curtain”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *seglom,^[3][2] source also of Old Norse segl, Dutch zeil and German Segel,^[3][2][4] of obscure or unknown origin with no known cognates outside Germanic;^[3][4] Irish seol and Welsh hwyl are borrowed from Germanic.^[3] Barnhart suggests it was originally a piece of cloth cut off, distantly related to saw.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A piece of canvas spread to catch the wind and drive a vessel: about 888 in the OED, before 899 in Alfred's Boethius in Barnhart.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Sails collectively are from about 1385.^[5] The verb, Old English seglian, to travel on water by sail,^[3][2] was later extended to travel by steam or other power,^[3] and to set out on a voyage is from about 1200.^[3] The arm of a windmill is from the 15th century,^[4] and figuratively something spread like a sail from 1616.^[5] The noun, a voyage, is from the early 16th century.^[6] To take the wind out of someone's sails is from 1888.^[3] Sailor, at first sayler, was altered to look like agent nouns in -or such as tailor.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 888 – a sail.^[5]
• before 899 – to sail (verb).^[2]
• c. 1200 – to set out on a voyage.^[3]
• 15th century – a windmill sail.^[4]
• early 16th century – a voyage (noun).^[6]
• 1888 – take the wind out of someone's sails.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A piece of fabric attached to a vessel's mast and rigging to catch the wind and drive it along.
2. A trip in a sailing boat.
3. A sailing ship, or ships collectively.
4. Something resembling a sail, such as the arm of a windmill.

Verb

1. To travel on water, especially in a sailing vessel.
2. To set out on a voyage.
3. To steer or manage a boat.
4. To move swiftly, smoothly or effortlessly.

Word family

• sailed
• sailable
• sailless
• spritsail
• foresail
• forestaysail
• headsail
• lugsail

Related words

• sailor
• sailboat
• saw

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press