mainsail

English

The red sail is the mainsail.

Etymology

From main +‎ sail.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪnseɪl/, /ˈmeɪnsəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

mainsail (plural mainsails)

1. (nautical) The largest (or only) sail on a sailing vessel.
   • 1887, Mrs. Dominic D. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 16:

     The mainsail was "scandalised" - a nautical mode of describing a sail reefed at both ends[.]

Synonyms

• main (“mainsail”)

Translations

largest sail on a sailing vessel

• Belorussian: грот m (hrot)
• Bulgarian: грот (grot)
• Catalan: vela mestra f, vela major f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 主帆 (zh) (zhǔfān)

• Danish: storsejl (da) n
• Dutch: grootzeil (nl)
• Esperanto: ĉefvelo, grandvelo
• Finnish: isopurje (fi)
• French: grand-voile (fr) f
• German: Großsegel (de) n
• Indonesian: layar agung (id)
• Irish: seol mór m
• Italian: vela maestra f, randa (it) f
• Maori: rā turuturu matua
• Norman: grand' vaile f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: storseil n

• Polish: grot (pl)
• Portuguese: vela grande
• Russian: грот (ru) m (grot)
• Scottish Gaelic: prìomh-sheòl m
• Spanish: vela mayor (es) f
• Ukrainian: грот (uk) m (hrot)
• Welsh: prif hwyl f