sail

Etymology 1

From Middle English saile, sayle, seil, seyl, from Old English seġl, from Proto-West Germanic *segl, from Proto-Germanic *seglą. Cognate with West Frisian seil, Low German Segel, Dutch zeil, German Segel, Danish sejl, Swedish segel.

noun

1. (nautical) A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination of mast, spars and ropes.
2. (nautical, uncountable) The concept of a sail or sails, as if a substance.
   Take in sail: a storm is coming.
3. (uncountable) The power harnessed by a sail or sails, or the use of this power for travel or transport.
4. A trip in a boat, especially a sailboat.
   Let's go for a sail.
5. (dated, plural "sail") A sailing vessel; a vessel of any kind; a craft.
   Twenty sail were in sight.
   […] The quay is upwards of 1,000 feet in length, and capable of accommodating more than 100 sail of traders; and there are generally a considerable number of vessels of from 40 to 300 tons burden, from various parts of the world, waiting to receive their cargoes. 1945 May and June, Charles E. Lee, “The Penrhyn Railway and its Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 142, text published 1848
6. (nautical) The conning tower of a submarine.
7. The blade of a windmill.
8. A tower-like structure found on the dorsal (topside) surface of submarines.
9. The floating organ of siphonophores, such as the Portuguese man-of-war.
10. (fishing) A sailfish.
    We caught three sails today.
11. (paleontology) an outward projection of the spine, occurring in certain dinosaurs and synapsids
12. Anything resembling a sail, such as a wing.

Etymology 2

From Middle English sailen, saylen, seilen, seilien, from Old English seġlan, siġlan (“to sail”), from Proto-West Germanic *siglijan, from *siglijaną. Cognate with West Frisian sile, Low German seilen, Dutch zeilen, German segeln, Danish sejle, Swedish segla, Icelandic sigla.

verb

1. To be impelled or driven forward by the action of wind upon sails, as a ship on water; to be impelled on a body of water by steam or other power.
2. To move through or on the water; to swim, as a fish or a waterfowl.
3. To ride in a boat, especially a sailboat.
4. (intransitive) To set sail; to begin a voyage.
   We sail for Australia tomorrow.
5. To move briskly and gracefully through the air.
   A hopeful ball from Forest right-back Brendan Moloney to the left edge of the area was met first by Ruddy but his attempted clearance rebounded off Tyson's leg and sailed in. April 15, 2011, Saj Chowdhury, “Norwich 2 - 1 Nott'm Forest”, in BBC Sport
6. (intransitive) To move briskly but sedately.
   The duchess sailed haughtily out of the room.
7. (card games, transitive) To deal out (cards) from a distance by impelling them across a surface.
   He would sit his hat across the room, and we would sail cards into it. 2007, Johnny Hughes, Texas Poker Wisdom, page 22