Standard Lemma guide

headsail

noun · 2 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.

  • /ˈhɛdˌsəl/
  • /ˈhɛdˌseɪl/

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any sail (of a sailing vessel) set forward of the foremost mast.

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

2

noun

Meaning 2

any sail set forward of the foremast of a vessel

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sail, canvas, canvass, sheet

Narrower terms: spinnaker

History

Etymology

From head + sail.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: شِرَاع أَمَامِيّ (širāʕ ʔamāmiyy) — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • Armenian: ֆոկ (fok) — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • Armenian: առաջակայմի ներքեւի առագաստ (aṙaǰakaymi nerkʻewi aṙagast) — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • Chinese Mandarin: 前桅前方的帆 (qiánwéi qiánfāng de fān) — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • Finnish: keulapurje — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • French: voile d'avant — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • German: Vorsegel — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • Hungarian: elővitorla — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • Hungarian: orrvitorla — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • Korean: 앞돛 (apdot) — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • Portuguese: vela da proa — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • Russian: фок (fok) — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • Spanish: vela delantera — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • Swedish: försegel — sail set forward of the foremost mast
  • Vietnamese: buồm mũi — sail set forward of the foremost mast