sailyard

English

Mast and sailyards

Etymology

From Middle English saylyerde, sailyerd, seilȝerd, from Old English seġlġyrd, seġelġyrd (“sailyard”), from Proto-West Germanic *seglagaʀdī and *seglagaʀd (“sailyard, mast”, literally “sail-rod, sail-staff”), equivalent to sail +‎ yard (“staff, rod, stick”). Cognate with German Segelgerte.

Noun

sailyard (plural sailyards)

1. (nautical) A yard (spar or shaft) to which the sails of a ship are bent (tied or fastened to).
2. (obsolete) One of the structural arms of a windmill to which the vanes or sails are attached.
3. (entomology, obsolete) An antenna of an insect.

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “sailyard”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.