Frigate

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Frigate \Frig"ate\, n. [F. fr['e]gate, It. fregata, prob.
     contracted fr. L. fabricata something constructed or built.
     See {Fabricate}.]
     1. Originally, a vessel of the Mediterranean propelled by
        sails and by oars. The French, about 1650, transferred the
        name to larger vessels, and by 1750 it had been


        appropriated for a class of war vessels intermediate
        between corvettes and ships of the line. Frigates, from
        about 1750 to 1850, had one full battery deck and, often,
        a spar deck with a lighter battery. They carried sometimes
        as many as fifty guns. After the application of steam to
        navigation steam frigates of largely increased size and
        power were built, and formed the main part of the navies
        of the world till about 1870, when the introduction of
        ironclads superseded them. [Formerly spelled {frigat} and
        {friggot}.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Any small vessel on the water. [Obs.] --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Frigate bird} (Zool.), a web-footed rapacious bird, of the
        genus {Fregata}; -- called also {man-of-war bird}, and
        {frigate pelican}. Two species are known; that of the
        Southern United States and West Indies is {F. aquila}.
        They are remarkable for their long wings and powerful
        flight. Their food consists of fish which they obtain by
        robbing gulls, terns, and other birds, of their prey. They
        are related to the pelicans.
  
     {Frigate mackerel} (Zool.), an oceanic fish ({Auxis Rochei})
        of little or no value as food, often very abundant off the
        coast of the United States.
  
     {Frigate pelican}. (Zool.) Same as {Frigate bird}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  frigate
       n 1: a medium size square-rigged warship of the 18th and 19th
            centuries
       2: a United States warship larger than a destroyer and smaller
          than a cruiser