Join free

yaw

English · Français

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

yaw¹

  • /jɔː/
  • /jɑː/
  • /jɒː/

Sounds like yore (non-rhotic), your, you're (some non-rhotic accents, especially with the pour–poor merger), y'all (l-vocalization) · Rhymes with -ɔː

Where it comes from

Unknown, first attested in the mid-16th century. Perhaps related to yar (“quick, agile”), or alternatively from Old Norse jaga (“to chase, drive, move back and forth”), from Middle Low German jagen (“to hunt, chase, pursue”), from Old Saxon *jagōn, from Proto-West Germanic *jagōn, from Proto-Germanic *jakkōną (“to hunt”).

noun yaws

  1. countable, uncountable The rotation of an aircraft, ship, or missile about its vertical axis so as to cause the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, ship, or missile to deviate from the flight line or heading in its horizontal plane.
  2. countable, uncountable The angle between the longitudinal axis of a projectile at any moment and the tangent to the trajectory in the corresponding point of flight of the projectile.
  3. countable, uncountable A vessel's motion rotating about the vertical axis, so the bow yaws from side to side; a characteristic of unsteadiness.
  4. countable, uncountable The extent of yawing; the rotation angle about the vertical axis. the yaw of an aircraft

verb yaws · yawing · yawed

  1. intransitive To turn about the vertical axis while maintaining course.
  2. intransitive To swerve off course to port or starboard.
  3. intransitive To steer badly, zigzagging back and forth across the intended course of a boat; to go out of the line of course. Just as he would lay the ship's course, all yawing being out of the question.
  4. intransitive To rise in blisters, breaking in white froth, as cane juice in the clarifiers in sugar works.

yaw²

  • /jɔː/
  • /jɑː/
  • /jɒː/

Sounds like yore (non-rhotic), your, you're (some non-rhotic accents, especially with the pour–poor merger), y'all (l-vocalization) · Rhymes with -ɔː

noun yaws

  1. A single tumor in the disease called yaws. Sometimes there remains one large Yaw, high and knobbed, red and moist; this is called the master Yaw; […]

Yaw³

proper noun Yaws

  1. A surname.

Translations

Every language

noun The rotation of an aircraft, ship, or missile about its vertical axis so as to cause the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, ship, or missile to deviate from the

Españolbandazo, guiñada
Portuguêsguinada
Françaislacet
DeutschGieren
Italianoimbardata
Ελληνικάελιγμός eligmós
Русскийрысканье ryskanʹje
עבריתסבסוב sivsúv

noun The angle between the longitudinal axis of a projectile at any moment and the tangent to the trajectory in the corresponding point of flight of the projectile

DeutschGierwinkel
Русскийу́гол рысканья úgol ryskanʹja

noun A vessel's motion rotating about the vertical axis, so the bow yaws from side to side; a characteristic of unsteadiness

Españolguiñada, pivote, pívot
Françaislacet
Italianostraorzata

noun The extent of yawing, the rotation angle about the vertical axis

DeutschGierwinkel

verb To turn about the vertical axis while maintaining course

Españolpivotar, guiñar
Portuguêsguinar
Deutschgieren
עבריתהִסְתַבְסֵב histavsev

verb To steer badly, zigzagging back and forth across the intended course of a boat; to go out of the line of course

עבריתהִסְתַבְסֵב histavsev

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"yaw." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/yaw. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

yaw. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/yaw

Chicago

"yaw." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/yaw.

BibTeX
@misc{yaw_2026,
  title = {yaw},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/yaw},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}