# sail
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /seɪl/, [seɪ̯ɫ]
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪl
* Homophone: sale

### Etymology 1

From Middle English saile, sayle, seil, seyl, from Old English seġl, from Proto-West Germanic *segl, from Proto-Germanic *seglą. Cognate with West Frisian seil, Low German Segel, Dutch zeil, German Segel, Danish sejl, Swedish segel.

#### Noun

sail (countable and uncountable, plural sails)
* (nautical) A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination of mast, spars and ropes.
** c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:When we haue laught to ſee the ſailes conceiue / And grow big bellied with the wanton winde; […]
* (nautical, uncountable) The concept of a sail or sails, as if a substance.
    Take in sail: a storm is coming.
* (uncountable) The power harnessed by a sail or sails, or the use of this power for travel or transport.
* A trip in a boat, especially a sailboat.
    Let's go for a sail.
* (dated, plural "sail") A sailing vessel; a vessel of any kind; a craft.
    Twenty sail were in sight.
** 1945 May and June, Charles E. Lee, “The Penrhyn Railway and its Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 142, text published 1848:" […] The quay is upwards of 1,000 feet in length, and capable of accommodating more than 100 sail of traders; and there are generally a considerable number of vessels of from 40 to 300 tons burden, from various parts of the world, waiting to receive their cargoes."
* (nautical) The conning tower of a submarine.
* The blade of a windmill.
* A tower-like structure found on the dorsal (topside) surface of submarines.
* The floating organ of siphonophores, such as the Portuguese man-of-war.
* (fishing) A sailfish.
    We caught three sails today.
* (paleontology) an outward projection of the spine, occurring in certain dinosaurs and synapsids
* Anything resembling a sail, such as a wing.
** 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 42:Like an eagle […] soaring / / To weather his broad sails.

##### Hyponyms

* See also Thesaurus:sail

##### Derived terms

* after-sail
* balloon sail
* by sail
* crowd sail
* drag sail
* drift sail
* electric sail
* full sail
* gaff sail
* knock the wind out of someone's sails
* light sail
* mackerel sky and mare's-tails make lofty ships carry low sails
* mackerel sky and mare's-tails make tall ships carry low sails
* mainsail
* make sail
* photon sail
* point of sail
* riding sail
* sailback
* sailboard
* sailboat
* sail-by
* sail-by salute
* sailcloth
* sail coat
* sail curve
* sailduck
* sailer
* sail fine
* sailfish
* sail-fluke
* sail foam
* sailing
* sail-like, saillike
* sail loft
* sail-plan
* sail sign
* sail vault
* sail wagon
* sail-yard
* sailyard
* sailyarn
* scudding sail
* set sail
* set sails
* shoulder-of-mutton sail
* smoke sail
* solar sail
* spritsail
* square sail
* storm sail
* strike sail
* studding sail
* take the wind out of someone's sails
* topgallant sail
* topsail
* trim one's sails
* under sail
* working sail

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Etymology 2

From Middle English sailen, saylen, seilen, seilien, from Old English seġlan, siġlan (“to sail”), from Proto-West Germanic *siglijan, from *siglijaną. Cognate with West Frisian sile, Low German seilen, Dutch zeilen, German segeln, Danish sejle, Swedish segla, Icelandic sigla.

#### Verb

sail (third-person singular simple present sails, present participle sailing, simple past and past participle sailed)
* To be impelled or driven forward by the action of wind upon sails, as a ship on water; to be impelled on a body of water by steam or other power.
** 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto IX:Fair ship, that from the Italian shore, ⁠Sailest the placid ocean-plains ⁠With my lost Arthur’s loved remains, Spread thy full wings, and waft him o’er.
* To move through or on the water; to swim, as a fish or a waterfowl.
* To ride in a boat, especially a sailboat.
* (intransitive) To set sail; to begin a voyage.
    We sail for Australia tomorrow.
* To move briskly and gracefully through the air.
** c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:As is a winged messenger of heaven, […] / When he bestrides the lazy pacing clouds, / And sails upon the bosom of the air.
** 2002 March 20, Kazuki Takahashi, Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories (PlayStation video game, North American version), Konami:[flavor text of the card "Spirit of the Winds"] A spirit of the wind that freely sails the skies.
** 2011 April 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Norwich 2 - 1 Nott'm Forest”, in BBC Sport‎:A hopeful ball from Forest right-back Brendan Moloney to the left edge of the area was met first by Ruddy but his attempted clearance rebounded off Tyson's leg and sailed in.
* (intransitive) To move briskly but sedately.
    The duchess sailed haughtily out of the room.
* (card games, transitive) To deal out (cards) from a distance by impelling them across a surface.
** 2007, Johnny Hughes, Texas Poker Wisdom, page 22:He would sit his hat across the room, and we would sail cards into it.

##### Derived terms

* sail by
* sail close to the wind
* sail on another board
* sail the Red Sea
* sail through
* sail under false colors
* that ship has already sailed
* that ship has sailed

##### Translations
### Further reading

* Sail on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Sail in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

### Anagrams

* Lasi, Alis, LISA, Lias, lias, sial, Isla, Lais, ails, SiAl, LIAs, lais, Ilsa, Lisa

## Basque
### Etymology

Borrowed from Romance, compare Old French seille.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /s̺ai̯l/ [s̺ai̯l]
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ai̯l
* Hyphenation: sail

### Noun

sail inan
* plot (area or land)
    Synonym: alor
* scope, field
    Synonyms: arlo, alor
* department (subdivision of an organization)

#### Derived terms

* sailburu (“head of a department”)
* sailburuorde (“deputy head of a department”)
* sailburuordetza (“subdepartment”)
* sailean
* sailka
* sailkaezin (“unclassifiable”)
* sailkagailu (“sorter”)
* sailkapen (“classification”)
* sailkatu (“to classify”)
* sailkatzaile (“classifier”)
* sailkatze (“classification, classifying”)
* sailordetza (“subdepartment”) (proscribed)

### Further reading

* “sail”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
* “sail”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from English sail. Doublet of zeil.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /seːl/
* Hyphenation: sail
* Rhymes: -eːl

### Noun

sail n (plural sails)
* (nautical) the fin or sail of a submarine
    Synonym: toren

## Irish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /salʲ/

### Etymology 1

From Old Irish sal, from Proto-Celtic *salā.

#### Noun

sail f (genitive singular saile)
* dirt, dross, impurity
    sail mhiotail ― metal dross
* stain, defilement
    sail pheaca ― the stain of sin

##### Declension

bare forms
singular
nominative
sail
vocative
a shail
genitive
saile
dative
sail
forms with the definite article
singular
nominative
an tsail
genitive
na saile
dative
leis an tsail don tsail :

##### Alternative forms

* sal

##### Derived terms

* sail chnis
* sail chluaise
* sail chaorach
* sailchuach

##### Related terms

* salach
* salachar
* salaigh

#### Further reading

* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “sal”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “sal”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 589
* Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “sail”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
* “sail”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

### Etymology 2

From Old Irish sail, from Proto-Celtic *salixs (whence also Welsh helyg, Breton halegen), seemingly from Proto-Indo-European *sh₂el-ik-s or sl̥h₂-ik-s. Cognate with Latin salix, Old English sealh (English sallow), and Ancient Greek ἑλίκη (helíkē), which all mean "willow", but the forms are hard to unify. The history of the word therefore must involve borrowing, possibly involving pre-Indo-European languages.

#### Noun

sail f (genitive singular saileach, nominative plural saileacha)
* willow (any of various trees or shrubs in the genus Salix)

##### Declension

bare forms
singular
plural
nominative
sail
saileacha
vocative
a shail
a shaileacha
genitive
saileach
saileacha
dative
sail sailigh (archaic, dialectal)
saileacha
forms with the definite article
singular
plural
nominative
an tsail
na saileacha
genitive
na saileach
na saileacha
dative
leis an tsail leis an tsailigh (archaic, dialectal) don tsail don tsailigh (archaic, dialectal)
leis na saileacha :
Variant declension:
bare forms
singular
plural
nominative
sail
salacha
vocative
a shail
a shalacha
genitive
salach
salacha
dative
sail salaigh (archaic, dialectal)
salacha
forms with the definite article
singular
plural
nominative
an tsail
na salacha
genitive
na salach
na salacha
dative
leis an tsail leis an tsalaigh (archaic, dialectal) don tsail don tsalaigh (archaic, dialectal)
leis na salacha :

##### Derived terms

* saileach
* saileog

#### References

* ↑ Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*salik-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN

#### Further reading

* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “sail”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “sail”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 587
* Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “sail”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Alteration of saim.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /saˈiw/ [saˈiʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /sɐˈil/ [sɐˈiɫ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /sɐˈil/ [sɐˈiɫ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /sɐˈi.li/
* Homophone: saiu (Brazil)
* Rhymes: (Brazil) -iw
* Hyphenation: sa‧il

### Noun

sail m (uncountable)
* Alternative form of saim (“fish oil”)

### References

* ↑ “sail”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Volapük
### Noun

sail (nominative plural sails)
* (nautical) sail

#### Declension

$^1$ status as a case is disputed $^2$ in later, non-classical Volapük only

#### Derived terms

* sailan
* sailön

## Welsh
### Etymology

From Middle Welsh seil, from Proto-Brythonic *söl, from Latin solea (“sole”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sai̯l/
* Rhymes: -ai̯l

### Noun

sail f (plural seiliau, not mutable)
* base, basis, foundation
    Synonyms: bas, sawd, sylfaen

#### Derived terms

* cynsail (“precedent; premise”)
* di-sail (“baseless, unsupported”)
* seiliedig (“established; fundamental”)

### Further reading

* R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “sail”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies