Meanings
plural mistics
- A kind of small sailing vessel historically used in the Mediterranean, rigged partly like a xebec and partly like a felucca.
Synonyms: mistico
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA kind of small sailing vessel historically used in the Mediterranean, rigged partly like a xebec and partly like a felucca.
Origin
- Spanishmístico
- Englishmistic
From Spanish místico. Compare Catalan místic, French mistique, Italian mistico, and Ottoman Turkish مستقو (mistiko). These all refer to sailing ships of the Mediterranean, but not necessarily to the same kind of ship. The number of masts is variously two or three and the sails are lateen or square. The New English Dictionary traces the origin to an Arabic word misṭeḥ "flat surface" (compare مُسَطَّح (musaṭṭaḥ)) but Kahane et al. disagree.
More words from Spanish
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with mistic
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
mistic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mistic
“mistic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mistic. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mistic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mistic.
Source: mistic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.