a taunto

adjective

Of a ship, especially a tall square-rigged one: in which all running rigging is hauled taut; having all spars hoisted aloft; having all sails set.

OriginFrench autant →
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Meanings

adjectivea taunto (not comparable)

alternative ataunt · alternative ataunto

  1. not comparablenauticalOf a ship, especially a tall square-rigged one: in which all running rigging is hauled taut; having all spars hoisted aloft; having all sails set.

    She was a noble vessel. Trim, ship-shape, all a taunto, as Captain Swosser used to say. You must excuse me if I occasionally introduce a nautical expression; I was quite a sailor once.

    1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 11, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC
  2. not comparablePrepared, ready, fit.

    No need of side-ropes, lads, for these marble companions. My eyes! here's a cabin all a taunto.

    1836, John Thomas Haines, The Ocean Life, act I, scene 1

Origin

  1. Frenchautant“as much (as possible)”
  2. Englisha taunto

French autant (“as much (as possible)”).

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

a taunto. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a%20taunto

MLA

“a taunto.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a%20taunto. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “a taunto,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a%20taunto.

Source: a taunto on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.