spritsail

[ sprit-seyl; Nautical sprit-suh l ]

/ ˈsprɪtˌseɪl; Nautical ˈsprɪt səl /

a sail extended by a sprit.

Origin of spritsail

1425–75; late Middle English sprete seyle (see sprit, sail); compare Dutch sprietzeil

sprint, sprint medley, sprit, sprite, sprite crab, spritsail, spritz, spritzer, spritzig, sproat, sprocket

Forward the ships had bowsprits, on which each set a spritsail, from a spritsail yard.

On the Spanish Main |John Masefield
Our only squaresail was a spritsail at the main-yard to serve as a mainsail.

Hurricane Hurry |W.H.G. Kingston
The spritsail flapped emptily and the boat righted to an even keel, causing the two men swiftly to change position.

The Sea-Wolf |Jack London
The foremast had a square foresail, the mainmast a mainsail and maintopsail, and there was a spritsail on the bowsprit.

Christopher Columbus and His Monument Columbia |Various

When day broke, they succeeded in wearing the ship with a remnant of the spritsail: this was hardly to have been expected.

Fifty-two Stories of the British Navy, from Damme to Trafalgar. |Alfred H. Miles

spritsail

/ (ˈsprɪtˌseɪl, nautical ˈsprɪtsəl) /

a rectangular sail mounted on a sprit in some 19th-century small vessels

(in medieval rigging) a square sail mounted on a yard on the bowsprit