Standard Lemma guide

frigate

noun · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈfɹɪɡ.ət/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪɡət
  • CMU ARPABET: F R IH1 G AH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of several types of warship:

A sailing warship (of any size) built for speed and maneuverability; typically without raised upperworks, having a flush forecastle and tumblehome sides.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

Topics: nautical, transport

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any of several types of warship:

A sailing warship with a single continuous gun deck, typically used for patrolling and blockading duties, but not considered large enough for the line of battle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

Topics: nautical, transport

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Any of several types of warship:

A warship combining sail and steam propulsion, typically of ironclad timber construction, supplementing and superseding sailing ships of the line at the beginning of the development of the ironclad battleship.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

Topics: nautical, transport

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Any of several types of warship:

An escort warship, smaller than a destroyer, introduced in World War 2 as an anti-submarine vessel.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

Topics: nautical, transport

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Any of several types of warship:

A modern type of warship, equivalent in size or smaller than a destroyer, often focused on anti-submarine warfare, but sometimes general purpose.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: nautical, transport

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A warship or space warship, inspired by one of the many historic varieties of frigate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: fiction, literature, media, publishing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

A frigatebird (Fregata spp.).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

a United States warship larger than a destroyer and smaller than a cruiser

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: warship, war vessel, combat ship

Narrower terms: guided missile frigate

9

noun

Meaning 9

a medium size square-rigged warship of the 18th and 19th centuries

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: warship, war vessel, combat ship

History

Etymology

From French frégate, from Italian fregata, of uncertain origin.

Across languages

Translations

139 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: fregatë — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Arabic: فِرْقَاطَة (firqāṭa) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Belarusian: фрэга́т (frehát) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Bulgarian: фрега́та (fregáta) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Catalan: fragata — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Chinese Mandarin: 護衛艦 /护卫舰 (hùwèijiàn) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Chinese Mandarin: 巡防艦 /巡防舰 (xúnfángjiàn) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Czech: fregata — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Dalmatian: frègāta — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Dalmatian: frègāda — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Dalmatian: bregada — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Dalmatian: frigada — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Danish: fregat — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Dutch: fregat — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Finnish: fregatti — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • French: frégate — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Galician: fragata — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Galician: fargata — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Georgian: ფრეგატი (pregaṭi) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Georgian: სადარაჯო ხომალდი (sadaraǯo xomaldi) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Georgian: საგუშაგო გემი (sagušago gemi) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Georgian: სადარაჯო გემი (sadaraǯo gemi) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Georgian: საგუშაგო ხომალდი (sagušago xomaldi) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • German: Fregatte — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Greek: φρεγάτα (fregáta) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Greek: φρεγάδα (fregáda) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Greek: φεργάδα (fergáda) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Hebrew: פְרִיגָטָה (frigáta) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Hungarian: fregatt — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Indonesian: fregat — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Italian: fregata — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Japanese: フリゲート (furigēto) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Korean: 프리깃 (peurigit) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Macedonian: фрега́та (fregáta) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Malay: frigat — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fregatt — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fregatt — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Polish: fregata — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Portuguese: fragata — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Russian: фрега́т (fregát) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Serbo-Croatian: фрега̀та — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Serbo-Croatian: fregàta — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Spanish: fragata — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Swedish: fregatt — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Tagalog: pragata — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Turkish: fırkateyn — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Ottoman Turkish: فرقتین — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Ukrainian: фрега́т (frehát) — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Venetan: fregada — type of sailing warship used for patrolling
  • Albanian: fregatë — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Arabic: فِرْقَاطَة (firqāṭa) — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Armenian: ֆրեգատ (fregat) — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Belarusian: фрэга́т (frehát) — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Bulgarian: фрега́та (fregáta) — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Catalan: fragata — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Czech: fregata — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Dalmatian: frègāta — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Dalmatian: frègāda — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Dalmatian: bregada — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Dalmatian: frigada — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Danish: fregat — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Dutch: fregat — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Esperanto: fregato — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Estonian: fregatt — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Finnish: fregatti — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • French: frégate — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Galician: fragata — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • German: Fregatte — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Greek: φρεγάτα (fregáta) — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Greek: φρεγάδα (fregáda) — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Greek: φεργάδα (fergáda) — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Hebrew: פְרִיגָטָה (frigáta) — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Hindi: फ़्रिगट (frigaṭ) — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Hungarian: fregatt — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Indonesian: fregat — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Italian: fregata — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Latvian: fregate — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Lithuanian: fregata — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Macedonian: фрега́та (fregáta) — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Malay: frigat — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fregatt — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fregatt — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Persian: پاسناو (pâs-nâv) — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Polish: fregata — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Portuguese: fragata — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Romanian: fregată — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Russian: фрега́т (fregát) — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Serbo-Croatian: фрега̀та — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Serbo-Croatian: fregàta — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Slovak: fregata — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Spanish: fragata — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Swedish: fregatt — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Tagalog: pragata — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Turkish: fırkateyn — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Ottoman Turkish: فرقتین — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Ukrainian: фрега́т (frehát) — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Venetan: fregada — type of warship combining sail and steam
  • Albanian: fregatë — modern type of warship
  • Arabic: فِرْقَاطَة (firqāṭa) — modern type of warship
  • Belarusian: фрэга́т (frehát) — modern type of warship
  • Bulgarian: фрега́та (fregáta) — modern type of warship
  • Catalan: fragata — modern type of warship
  • Chinese Mandarin: 護衛艦 /护卫舰 (hùwèijiàn) — modern type of warship
  • Czech: fregata — modern type of warship
  • Danish: fregat — modern type of warship
  • Dutch: fregat — modern type of warship
  • Esperanto: fregato — modern type of warship
  • Finnish: fregatti — modern type of warship
  • French: frégate — modern type of warship
  • Galician: fragata — modern type of warship
  • Georgian: ფრეგატი (pregaṭi) — modern type of warship
  • German: Fregatte — modern type of warship
  • Greek: φρεγάτα (fregáta) — modern type of warship
  • Greek: φρεγάδα (fregáda) — modern type of warship
  • Greek: φεργάδα (fergáda) — modern type of warship
  • Hebrew: פְרִיגָטָה (frigáta) — modern type of warship
  • Hungarian: fregatt — modern type of warship
  • Indonesian: fregat — modern type of warship
  • Italian: fregata — modern type of warship
  • Japanese: フリゲート (furigēto) — modern type of warship
  • Korean: 프리깃 (peurigit) — modern type of warship
  • Macedonian: фрега́та (fregáta) — modern type of warship
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fregatt — modern type of warship
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fregatt — modern type of warship
  • Persian: ناوچه (nâvče) — modern type of warship
  • Polish: fregata — modern type of warship
  • Portuguese: fragata — modern type of warship
  • Romanian: fregată — modern type of warship
  • Russian: фрега́т (fregát) — modern type of warship
  • Serbo-Croatian: фрега̀та — modern type of warship
  • Serbo-Croatian: fregàta — modern type of warship
  • Slovak: fregata — modern type of warship
  • Spanish: fragata — modern type of warship
  • Swedish: fregatt — modern type of warship
  • Tagalog: pragata — modern type of warship
  • Turkish: fırkateyn — modern type of warship
  • Ottoman Turkish: فرقتین — modern type of warship
  • Ukrainian: фрега́т (frehát) — modern type of warship
  • Venetan: fregada — modern type of warship
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