mizzen

M3I1Z10Z10E1N1
/ˈmɪ.zən/

noun

Mizzenmast.

“the mizzen shrouds, sails, etc.”

Similar
mizzenmastmizenmastmizen
OriginMiddle English mesan ← Middle French misaine ← Old French migenne →
UncommonScrabble 26
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Meanings

nounmizzen (plural mizzens)

plural mizzens · alternative mizen · alternative missen

  1. nauticalMizzenmast.
  2. nauticalMizzensail.

    "'Oh yes, that's all very well, but we haven't done with it yet,' said the lad, 'we shall have it worse directly,' and he ordered them to furl every rag but the mizen."

    1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 191
    1 more example

    Finding it was like to overblow, we took in our Sprit-ſail, and ſtood by to hand the Fore-ſail; but making foul Weather, we look'd the Guns were all faſt, and handed the Miſſen.

    1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Great Storm Described, the Long-Boat Sent to Fetch Water, the Author Goes with It to Discover the Country. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part II (A Voyage to Brobdingnag), page 151
adjectivemizzen (not comparable)

alternative mizen · alternative missen

  1. not comparablenauticalHindmost; nearest the stern.

    the mizzen shrouds, sails, etc.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthird mast from the bow in a vessel having three or more masts; the after and shorter mast of a yawl, ketch, or dandy

Similar
mizzenmastmizenmastmizen
Broader
mast

nounfore-and-aft sail set on the mizzenmast

Similar
mizen
Broader
fore-and-aft sail
Also see
mizzenmast

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinmedianus
  2. Old Catalanmitjana
  3. Old Frenchmigenne
  4. Middle Frenchmisaine
  5. Middle Englishmesan
  6. Englishmizzen

From Middle English mesan, meseyn, myson, from Middle French misaine, modified from Old French migenne (through influence from Italian mezzana), from Old Catalan mitjana, feminine of mitjan, ultimately from Latin medianus. Doublet of mean and median.

More words from Middle English, Middle French, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with mizzen

prisonrisenimprisonbedizenwizen
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

mizzen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mizzen

MLA

“mizzen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mizzen. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mizzen,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mizzen.

Source: mizzen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.