polacre

English

A polacre

Alternative forms

• polacca

Etymology

Uncertain; from either French polacre (“Pole, Polish”) or Italian polacca (“Polish woman, Polish (feminine adj)”).

Noun

polacre (plural polacres)

1. (nautical, obsolete or historical) A 17th-century three-masted merchant ship.
   • 1820, J. H. Adolphus, editor, A Correct, Full, and Impartial Report, of the Trial of Her Majesty, Caroline, Queen Consort of Great Britain, Before the House of Peers; on the Bill of Pains and Penalties, page 95:

     Before the Princess went to Palestine, do you know in what part of the polacre she slept?

   • 1822, The Annual Register, or a View of the History, Politics, and Literature, of the Year 1822, Part 2, page 1137:

     If that be so with respect to the Aum case, what shall we say to the case now established in proof onboard the polacre; that case which they have been unable by any evidence to shake, or by any observation to destroy?

   • 2007, David Cordingly, Cochrane the Dauntless: The Life and Adventures of Thomas Cochrane, 1775-1860, page 138:

     As he approached the polacre he was surprised to see a Union Jack being hung over her gunwale.

See also

• xebec

Anagrams

• capreol

French

Noun

polacre m (plural polacres)

1. polacre

Further reading

• “polacre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Occitan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /puˈla.kre/

Noun

polacre m (plural polacres)

1. (nautical) foresail, jib