: being or relating to a rig used especially on the north coast of Africa and characterized by a triangular sail extended by a long spar slung to a low mast
1
or less commonly lateener
: a lateen-rigged ship
2
: a lateen sail
Examples of lateen in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Fox News, 14 Feb. 2020
Garland Kelly, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Sep. 2019
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Adjective
Crew members from the USS Normandy seized a huge cache of weapons from a dhow – a small vessel with lateen sails – on Sunday while conducting maritime security operations in the U.S. Central area of operations.
—Fox News, 14 Feb. 2020
Noun
Unlike the lumbering tall ships of the 1800s, the Iskatel runs on a combination of two outboard engines and four lateen sails.
—Garland Kelly, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Sep. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Lateen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lateen. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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