capstan
pronunciation
How to pronounce capstan in British English:
UK [ˈkæpstən]
How to pronounce capstan in American English:
US [ˈkæpstən, -ˌstæn]
-
- Noun:
- a windlass rotated in a horizontal plane around a vertical axis; used on ships for weighing anchor or raising heavy sails
Word Origin
- capstan
- capstan: [14] Capstan is a borrowing from Old Provençal. There the word was cabestan. Its earlier form capestran was a derivative of capestre ‘rope, noose’, which came from Latin capistrum ‘halter’. This in turn came from capere ‘take’, a prolific source of English words, and related to English heave.=> capture, heave
- capstan (n.)
- late 14c., from Old French cabestant, from Old Provençal cabestan, from capestre "pulley cord," from Latin capistrum "halter," from capere "to hold, take" (see capable).
Example
- 1. Sailors hove up the cable with windlass or capstan .
- 2. Why , that capstan is not metal at all !
- 3. Take tugs towing line to capstan , then make fast on starboard quarter .
- 4. Pressure decrease device and pressure discharge valve were separately put between abdominal bladder and capstan bladder in capstan anti-g suit and then the pressure in the abdominal bladder was reduced to approximately 40 % of the capstan pressure .