Barquentines

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Sailing vessels rigged with a square-rigged foremast and fore-and-aft sails on the other masts, all ships of this specific type
2. Multi-masted sailing ships whose forward mast carries square sails while the rear masts carry fore-and-aft canvas
3. Hybrid sailing craft with three or more masts, combining square sails at the front with sails set along the keel at the back

Etymology: "Barquentines" is simply the plural of "barquentine," a type of sailing ship. The singular form is itself a compound-like term for a vessel rigged with a particular combination of sails, and the plural adds the ordinary English "-s" ending to show there is more than one of them. The word for the ship is the important part: a barquentine was a three-masted vessel whose foremast is square-rigged while the other masts carry fore-and-aft sails, so the ship blends features of a barque and a schooner. Because the name describes a specific arrangement of rigging, it is best understood as a technical nautical term rather than a word with a dramatic shift in meaning.