What does brigantine mean?
A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel that combines two styles of rigging: its foremast carries square sails, while its mainmast is rigged fore-and-aft. This hybrid arrangement made the type fast and manoeuvrable, and brigantines were widely used from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries by merchantmen, navies, and pirates alike. The word entered English in the sixteenth century from Italian brigantino, a diminutive of brigante, meaning 'pirate' or 'fighter,' which itself traces back to the Latin briga, meaning 'strife' — so the name originally described a small vessel favoured by raiders. Today the term lives mainly in maritime history, naval fiction, and heritage sailing circles, where several restored brigantines still sail as training ships. It should not be confused with the brig, a smaller two-masted ship carrying square sails on both masts. The plural is brigantines.
nounA two-masted sailing vessel, historically rigged with square sails on the foremast and fore-and-aft sails on the mainmast; it was popular from the 17th to the 19th centuries for both merchant and privateering use.
- A two-masted sailing ship rigged with square sails on the foremast and fore-and-aft sails on the mainmast.
- (Archaic/historical) A small swift pirate or privateer vessel of the 16th–17th centuries.
"The restored brigantine slipped out of the harbour under a full press of canvas."
"By dawn the brigantine had rounded the headland and was running south before the wind."
"Museum curators spent three years rebuilding the brigantine to her original seventeenth-century lines."
Standard regular plural; used when referring to more than one such vessel, as in fleet descriptions or maritime histories.
"Several brigantines were refitted at the dockyard over the winter."
The word 'brigantine' literally means 'a little pirate ship' — it comes from Italian brigantino, a diminutive of brigante, meaning 'pirate' or 'outlaw.'
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of brigantine
The English word 'brigantine' derives from the Italian brigantino, a diminutive of brigante meaning 'pirate' or 'outlaw', ultimately rooted in the Latin noun briga, meaning 'strife' or 'contention'. The term entered English in the sixteenth century, first describing small, fast vessels used by raiders and privateers. Related words sharing this lineage include 'brigand', 'brigade', and 'brigadier'. Over time the sense shifted from describing the vessel's users to describing a specific rig configuration: a two-masted ship with square sails on the foremast and fore-and-aft sails on the mainmast.
How brigantine is actually used
"Brigantine" belongs chiefly to nautical and historical registers — maritime history, naval fiction, and museum contexts. In everyday modern English it appears rarely outside those settings, and speakers sometimes use it loosely as a general term for any small old sailing ship.
Easily confused with brigantine
A brig is a smaller two-masted vessel that carries square sails on both masts, whereas the brigantine squaresails only its foremast and uses fore-and-aft rigging on its mainmast.