sail
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sail¹
- /seɪl/
- [seɪɫ]
- /seɪ.əl/
- [sei̯əɫ]
- [sei̯l̩]
Sounds like sale (pane–pain merger), sell, cell (fell-fail merger) · Rhymes with -eɪl
Where it comes from
From Middle English saile, sayle, seil, seyl, from Old English seġl, from Proto-West Germanic *segl, from Proto-Germanic *seglą. Cognate with West Frisian seil, Low German Segel, Dutch zeil, German Segel, Danish sejl, Swedish segel.
noun sails
- A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination of mast, spars and ropes. When we haue laught to ſee the ſailes conceiue / And grow big bellied with the wanton winde; […]
-
The concept of a sail or sails, as if a substance.
Take in sail: a storm is coming.
Similar: canvass
- The power harnessed by a sail or sails, or the use of this power for travel or transport.
- A trip in a boat, especially a sailboat. Let's go for a sail.
- A sailing vessel; a vessel of any kind; a craft. Twenty sail were in sight.
- The conning tower of a submarine.
- The blade of a windmill. So furious had been the gusts, that high buildings in town had had the lead stripped off their roofs; and in the country, trees had been torn up, and sails of windmills carried away; and gloomy accounts had come in from the coast, of shipwreck and death.
- A tower-like structure found on the dorsal (topside) surface of submarines.
- The floating organ of siphonophores, such as the Portuguese man-of-war.
- A sailfish. We caught three sails today.
- an outward projection of the spine, occurring in certain dinosaurs and synapsids
- Anything resembling a sail, such as a wing. Like an eagle […]soaring / / To weather his broad sails.
Similar: sail
sail²
- /seɪl/
- [seɪɫ]
- /seɪ.əl/
- [sei̯əɫ]
- [sei̯l̩]
Sounds like sale (pane–pain merger), sell, cell (fell-fail merger) · Rhymes with -eɪl
Where it comes from
From Middle English sailen, saylen, seilen, seilien, from Old English seġlan, siġlan (“to sail”), from Proto-West Germanic *siglijan, from *siglijaną. Cognate with West Frisian sile, Low German seilen, Dutch zeilen, German segeln, Danish sejle, Swedish segla, Icelandic sigla.
verb sails · sailing · sailed
- To be impelled or driven forward by the action of wind upon sails, as a ship on water; to be impelled on a body of water by steam or other power. Fair ship, that from the Italian shore, Sailest the placid ocean-plains With my lost Arthur’s loved remains, Spread thy full wings, and waft him o’er.
- To move through or on the water; to swim, as a fish or a waterfowl.
- To ride in a boat, especially a sailboat.
- To set sail; to begin a voyage. We sail for Australia tomorrow.
- To move briskly and gracefully through the air. As is a winged messenger of heaven, […] / When he bestrides the lazy pacing clouds, / And sails upon the bosom of the air.
- To move briskly but sedately. The duchess sailed haughtily out of the room.
- To deal out (cards) from a distance by impelling them across a surface. He would sit his hat across the room, and we would sail cards into it.
SAIL³
noun SAILs
- Acronym of snow avalanche impact landform
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: cruise, navigate, voyage, canvas, sheet, sweep, canvass, jib, aweigh, sailboat, navigation, sailor, chute, glider, surf, swim
noun
Similar: sail
Translations
Every language
noun a piece of fabric attached to a boat
| Español | vela, candonga |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 돛 dot |
| 日本語 | 帆 ho |
| 中文 | 帆 fān, 風帆 /风帆 fēngfān |
| हिन्दी | पाल pāl |
| Português | vela |
| Français | voile |
| Deutsch | Segel |
| Italiano | vela |
| Ελληνικά | πανί paní |
| Română | velă, pânză |
| Русский | па́рус párus, ветри́ло vetrílo |
| Tiếng Việt | buồm |
| العربية | شِرَاع širāʕ |
| עברית | מִפְרָשׂ mifrás |
noun power harnessed by sails
| Français | voile |
|---|
noun a trip in a boat
| Português | velejada |
|---|---|
| Français | balade en mer, balade en voilier |
| Deutsch | Törn |
| Ελληνικά | ίστιο ístio |
noun the blade of a windmill
| Español | aspa, álabe |
|---|---|
| Português | pá |
| Français | aile |
| Deutsch | Windmühlenflügel |
| Italiano | pala |
| Русский | крыло́ kryló |
noun a tower-like structure found on the topside of a submarine
| Français | kiosque, massif |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Turm |
| Italiano | vela |
| Русский | боева́я ру́бка bojevája rúbka |
noun floating organ of siphonophores
| Português | crista |
|---|---|
| Français | flotteur, pneumatophore |
| Русский | па́рус párus |
noun paleontology: outward projection of the spine
| Español | vela |
|---|
verb to ride in a boat, especially sailboat
| Español | navegar, singlar, timonear, navegar a vela, hacer velerismo |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 航海する kōkai suru, 帆走する hansō suru |
| 中文 | 行船 xíngchuán, 航行 hángxíng, 航海 hánghǎi |
| Português | velejar |
| Français | voguer, gouverner, faire du bateau, faire de la voile, naviguer |
| Deutsch | segeln |
| Italiano | navigare a vela, veleggiare, condurre |
| Ελληνικά | πλέω pléo |
| Română | naviga |
| Русский | плыть под паруса́ми plytʹ pod parusámi, плыть plytʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | đi thuyền |
| العربية | أَبْحَرَ ʔabḥara |
| עברית | שט shat, הפליג hiflíg |
Talk about this word "sail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sail. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. sail. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sail "sail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sail.Cite this
@misc{sail_2026,
title = {sail},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sail},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
