pinnace
/ˈpɪ.nɪs/ noun
Forms pinnaces
- noun (nautical) A light boat, traditionally propelled by sails, but sometimes a rowboat, and usually serving to carry messages among the larger ships of a fleet.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle French pinasse, from Spanish pinaza, from pino (“pine”) + -aza.
Webster’s 1913
- noun (a) A small vessel propelled by sails or oars, formerly employed as a tender, or for coast defence; --called originally, spynace or spyne.
- noun A procuress; a pimp. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
Etymology [F. pinasse; cf. It. pinassa, pinazza, Sp. pinaza; all from L. pinus a pine tree, anything made of pine, e.g., a ship. Cf. Pine a tree.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pinnace”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details