sailyard
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English saylyerde, sailyerd, seilȝerd, from Old English seġlġyrd, seġelġyrd (“sailyard”), from Proto-West Germanic *seglagaʀdī and *seglagaʀd (“sailyard, mast”, literally “sail-rod, sail-staff”), equivalent to sail + yard (“staff, rod, stick”). Cognate with German Segelgerte.
Noun edit
sailyard (plural sailyards)
- (nautical) A yard (spar or shaft) to which the sails of a ship are bent (tied or fastened to).
- (obsolete) One of the structural arms of a windmill to which the vanes or sails are attached.
- (entomology, obsolete) An antenna of an insect.
References edit
- John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “sailyard”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.