# sail

> English word · Noun · IPA /seɪl/ · frequency rank #7,054

## Definitions
1. 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. The concept of a sail or sails, as if a substance.
3. 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.
5. A sailing vessel; a vessel of any kind; a craft.
6. 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. A sailfish.
11. an outward projection of the spine, occurring in certain dinosaurs and synapsids
12. Anything resembling a sail, such as a wing.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **SI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-si)
- **SL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sl)
- **say** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-say)
- **saw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-saw)
- **six** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-six)
- **sir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sir)
- **san** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-san)
- **sit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sit)
- **Sam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sam)
- **sat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sat)
- **sin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sin)
- **ski** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-ski)
- **SCI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sci)
- **SIM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sim)
- **sol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sol)
- **sip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sip)
- **sis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sis)
- **sic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sic)
- **sap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sap)
- **Sid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-sid)

## Common misspellings (5)
`asil`, `saill`, `sali`, `sial`, `ssail`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sail