xebec
xe·bec/ˈzibɛk/noun
xebec is a noun meaning “A small two-masted, and later three-masted, Mediterranean transport ship with an overhanging bow and stern” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled X-E-B-E-C and has 2 syllables (xe·bec), and it appears about once in every 69 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of xebec is xebecs.
What does xebec mean?
noun
- 1
A small two-masted, and later three-masted, Mediterranean transport ship with an overhanging bow and stern.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce xebec?
- UK /ˈziːbɛk/
- US /ˈzibɛk/
- US /zɪˈbɛk/
Xebec has 2 syllables, split xe·bec in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-xebec.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of xebec
- xebecs plural
- zebec
- zebeck
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is xebec?
Xebec appears about once in every 69 million words in written English, the 262,293rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Xebec in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense transport ship:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does xebec come from?
From French chebec, from Spanish xabeque or Catalan xabec or Italian sciabecco, from Arabic شُبَّاك (šubbāk, “fishing-net”). Not to confuse with the sambuq, an Indian-Sea vessel.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).