Where does “staysail” come from?
Staysail comes from Middle English saile, Old English stæġ, and Latin salio meaning "to leap," combined with the Latin prefix ad-.
staysail (English): A fore-and-aft rigged sail whose luff can be...
Definitions
- A fore-and-aft rigged sail whose luff can be...
Ancestry of “staysail”, step by step
staysail traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English stay
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | stay | To prop; support; sustain; hold up; steady; To... |
| 2 | Middle English | stay | A stay |
| 3 | Old French | estaye | prop, support |
| 4 | Middle Dutch | staeye | a prop, stay |
| 5 | Middle Dutch | staede | — |
| 6 | Old Dutch | stad | a site, place, location, standing |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | stadiz | place, location |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | stéh₂tis | standing, position |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | *steh₂- | — |