caravel
/ˈkæɹəvɛl/
Etymology
From Middle French caravelle, from Old French caruelle, carvelle (“caravel”), from Old Galician-Portuguese caravela (“caravel”), a diminutive of caravo, carabo (“type of small vessel”), from Late Latin carabus (“small wicker boat decked with hide”), from Ancient Greek κᾱ́ρᾰβος (kā́răbos, “type of light ship; kind of beetle, probably a longhorn beetle; kind of crustacean, probably a crayfish”).
caravel means A light, usually lateen-rigged sailing ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish for about 300 years from the 15th century, first for trade and later for voyages of exploration. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 84 out of 100.
caravel is pronounced /ˈkæɹəvɛl/.
Why “caravel” is a great word
CARAVEL — [Noun] A light, fast, and highly maneuverable sailing ship of the 15th to 17th centuries, typically lateen-rigged, used by the Spanish and Portuguese for exploration and trade. From Middle French caravelle, from Old French caruelle, carvelle, from Old Galician-Portuguese caravela (a diminutive of caravo, carabo, "type of small vessel"), from Late Latin carabus ("small wicker boat decked with hide"), from Ancient Greek κᾱ́ρᾰβος (kā́răbos, "type of light ship; kind of beetle or crustacean"). Unlike a galleon, a ponderous, armed fortress for war and treasure, or a cog, a sturdy, square-sailed workhorse of northern seas, the caravel was a nimble instrument of discovery. It is the sharp prow cutting a new line on an empty chart, the triangular sail catching a contrary wind to turn back from a headland, and the modest hull riding high in a river’s mouth where deeper draughts could not follow—a vessel built not for dominion, but for the act of finding.
noun
- A light, usually lateen-rigged sailing ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish for about 300 years from the 15th century, first for trade and later for voyages of exploration.“When Gullion di'd (who knows not Gullion?) / And his drie soule arriu'd at Acheron, / He faire besought the feryman of hell, / That he might drink to dead Pantagruel. / […] Yet still he drinkes, nor can the Botemans cries, / Nor crabbed oares, nor prayers make him rise. / So long he drinkes, till the black Carauell / Stands still fast grauel'd on the mud of hell.”