Barkentine

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A maritime structure characterized by three masts, where the foremost is equipped with square sails and the remaining are rigged for efficient sailing with fore-and-aft sails
2. An older type of ship marked by its three-mast setup, where the front mast is fitted with square rigging, while the other masts utilize fore-and-aft rigging techniques
3. A sailing vessel with three masts, having square sails on the front mast and fore-and-aft sails on the others

Etymology: The barkentine's name is a blend of two older ship words. Its ancestor, the "barque," came from French "barque," which in turn descended from Late Latin "barca," a small boat, and the "-entine" ending was added by analogy with "brigantine," a two-masted vessel that shared the same fore-and-aft and square-rigged mix. The result was a ship type that carried a rig of one kind forward and another kind aft, which is precisely what the name records. Its spelling has two forms, "barkentine" and "barquentine," and both are in use. The variant with the "qu" keeps closer to the "barque" root, while the shorter spelling simplifies it. Either way, the word names a single rig: square sails on the foremast, and fore-and-aft sails on the rest.

Synonyms: sailing ship, two-masted vessel, schooner, brigantine, clipper