caravel

Dictionary: car·a·vel or car·a·velle (kăr'ə-vĕl') pronunciation

also car·vel

(kär'vəl, -vĕl')
n. Nautical
Any of several types of small, light sailing ships, especially one with two or three masts and lateen sails used by the Spanish and Portuguese in the 15th and 16th centuries.

[French caravelle, from Old French, from Old Portuguese caravela, diminutive of cáravo, ship, from Late Latin cārabus, a small wicker boat, from Late Greek kārabos, light ship, from Greek, horned beetle.]

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Columbia Encyclopedia: caravel

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caravel (kăr'əvĕl') or carvel (kär'vəl), three-masted sailing vessel, generally square-rigged with the aftermast lateen-rigged. It had a roundish hull with a high bow and stern. The term "carvel-built" (see boat) was derived from its method of construction. A change from bulkier ships to caravels, with their small displacement, enabled the Portuguese in the 15th cent. to take the lead among Western nations in exploring the African coast; the caravel thereafter was of primary importance in the era of expansion and exploration. Columbus's flagship, the Santa María, was a typical caravel.

Word Tutor: carvel

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IN BRIEF: Small galley-rigged ship from Portugal or Spain; small fishing vessel.

Wikipedia: Caravel

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This article is about the Caravel boat. For the carvel type of boat building, see Carvel (boat building).

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2008)

Portuguese caravel, adorned with the Cross of the Order of Christ. This was the standard model used by the Portuguese in their voyages of exploration. It could accommodate about 20 sailors.^[1]

Caravela Latina / Lateen-rigged Caravel

Caravela Redonda / Square-rigged Caravel

A caravel is a small, highly maneuverable, two- or three-masted lateen-rigged ship, created by the Portuguese and used by them as well as by the Spanish for long voyages of exploration from the 15th century.

History

The caravel was developed in the Atlantic under the order of prince Henry the Navigator and became the preferred vessel for Portuguese explorers. Its name may derive from an earlier Arab boat known as the qārib.^[2]

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		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more
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		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Caravel". Read more