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aft - Situated at the back or stern part of a vessel.
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bark or barque - A vessel with fore-and-aft sails on the mizzen (or aftermost mast) and square rigged sails on the other masts.
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brig - A two-masted vessel, fully square rigged on both masts, with fore-and-aft sail on the lower part of the main mast.
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brigantine -
A two-masted vessel having a fully square-rigged formast and a fore-and-aft rigged main mast with square sails on the main topmast.
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canoe - a boat without a keel, propelled by paddles. Often carved from solid tree trunks.
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caravel - Sailing vessel used by the Portuguese and Spanish for coastal work as well as ocean voyages. Early caravels carried lateen sails on two or three masts.
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careening - Turning a ship on its side so that it can be cleaned of weeds or barnacles. Makes the ship faster in the water. Durning careening all weapons are brought ashore, leaving both the ship and the pirates vulnerable to attack.
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consort - A companion vessel sailing in the company of a pirate ship.
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cruiser - a warship sent on detached operations alone or in a company.
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cutter - a small one-masted vessel rigged with a fore-and-aft mainsail, foresail, and jib. In the 18th century a cutter usually had a square topsail.
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doubloon - a type of Spanish gold coin.
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East Indiaman - A large, armed merchand ship owned by the East India companies.
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freebooter - another name for a pirate or buccaneer.
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frigate - a fast warship, usually armed with twenty or thirty gun, that was too small for the line of battle but powerful enough for independent action and often used against pirates.
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galleon - A large, square-rigged warship developed around 1570 and used for a warship or merchant ship. Most Spanish treasure ships were galleons but they were also in English, French and Dutch navies.
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gig - a small ship's boat
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guineaman - a large, armed merchant ship use by European countries to trade with the Guinea coast of Africa.
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jolly boat - the smallest of a ship's boats
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jolly rodger - the pirate flag. Usually black and using a skull or skeleton.
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lateen-rig - Triangular sail or sails set from a longyard at an angle of 45 degrees from the mast.
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man-o'-war - An armed warship used by the navy of a country.
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moidore - a type of Portuguese gold coin
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piece of eight - a type of Spanish gold coin
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port - when facing the bow (forward), the left side of the ship.
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quarter - mercy given to those who have been defeated.
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salmagundi - a favorite dish on a pirate ship. Name if from French salemine - highly seasoned or salted. "Included might be any or all of the following: turtle meat, fish, pork, chicken, corned beef, ham, duck, and pigeon. The meats would be roasted, chopped into pieces and marinated in spiced wine, then mixed with cabbage, anchovies, pickled herring, mangoes, hard-boiled eggs, palm hearts, onions, olives, grapes, and any other pickled vegetables available. The entire conconction would then be highly seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper, and mustard seed and soaked with oil and vinegar." (Reinhardt 39)
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schooner - a two-masted vessel, fore-and-aft rigged on both masts. Some vessels had square topsails on the foremast and both topmasts.
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sloop - a vessel having one fore-and-aft riffed mast with mainsail and a single foresail. In the eighteenth century the term also applied to a small vessel armed with four to twelve guns on her upper deck and rigged with as many as three masts.
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sloop-of-war - a small warship in the Royal Navy commanded by a master & commander
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Spanish Main - refers to the South American coast - today's Panama, Colombia, and part of Western Venezuela. In the early 16th century the Spanish called the land Terrna Fima (the mainland) and when translated into English it was known as the Spanish Mainland - shortened by the English to Spanish Main.
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starboard when facing the bow (forward), the right side of the ship.
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Vice-Admiralty
Courts - in the British colonies, they held trials and made
decisions regarding maritme issues.
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Weigh
- to raise the anchor when preparing for departure
