sailyard

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noun

A yard (spar or shaft) to which the sails of a ship are bent (tied or fastened to).

OriginMiddle English saylyerde ← Old English seġlġyrd ← Proto-West Germanic *seglagaʀdī →
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Meanings

nounsailyard (plural sailyards)

plural sailyards

  1. nauticalA yard (spar or shaft) to which the sails of a ship are bent (tied or fastened to).
  2. obsoleteOne of the structural arms of a windmill to which the vanes or sails are attached.
  3. obsoletebiologyAn antenna of an insect.

Origin

  1. Proto-West Germanic*seglagaʀdī
  2. Old Englishseġlġyrd
  3. Middle Englishsaylyerde
  4. Englishsailyard

From Middle English saylyerde, sailyerd, seilȝerd, from Old English seġlġyrd, seġelġyrd (“sailyard”), from Proto-West Germanic *seglagaʀdī and *seglagaʀd (“sailyard, mast”, literally “sail-rod, sail-staff”), equivalent to sail + yard (“staff, rod, stick”). Cognate with German Segelgerte.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Norwegian Bokmål rå
  • råyard of a ship
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“sailyard.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sailyard. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sailyard,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sailyard.

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