caravel
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun (Nautical) The name of several kinds of vessels, especially those used by the Spanish and Portuguese in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Examples
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A caravel was a small, roundish, stubby sort of craft, galley-rigged, with a double tower at the stern and a single one in the bow.
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She sailed in an age of Titans, while the caravel was a frolicksome pygmy, dancing to the music of a thousand winds, buffeted today, becalmed tomorrow, but always a snail on the face of the waters.
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Sift through the muck of monetary policy below the Rio Grande and you'll find a compost heap of rotten australs, sucres, intis, cruzeiros and more kinds of pesos than you could stuff into Columbus's caravel.
Note
'Caravel' ultimately comes from a Greek word that means 'horned beetle.'
