The Glossary

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A

Aboucher
To get individuals around the table; to make an oral contract
Abus
Abuse
Acquit
Acquittance ; proof of paid duties
Adjudication
Allocation
Adjuger
To allocate
Affréteur
A freighter (ship)
Agrée(s) et utensils
Full outfitting of a ship
Aiguille
A needle
Airain
Bronze
Allouer
To permit
Amarrer
To moor (a ship)
Amener les voiles
Striking the sails
Amidon
Starch
Anchois
Anchovies
Anspet
Handspike or a lever, similar to a crowbar
Apparaux
Outfitting
Apposition du sceau
To seal (a document)
Arborer le pavillon
Flying a flag
Aristoloche
Birthworth; a type of plant used for medicinal purposes up until the early modern period
Armateur
A shipowner
Arme
A weapon
Aroue
Arobe (a Spanish unit of measurement; about 10 to 15 liters/12 to 15 kg)
Arrimage
Stowing cargo
Aumône
Alms ; charity
Aunage
Measuring a piece of fabric (aune = ‘ell’ unit of measurement; approx... 0.45 m)
Avarie
Damage to a ship
Aviron
An oar

B

Bahuet
A big chest
Bailer
To relinquish
Bailler
To deliver
Balle/Ballot
A (little) bail or package
Banie/Bannie
Proclamation (of interdiction)
Bare/Barre/Bareton/Barreton
A (little) ingot or bar
Baril
A vat (approx. 15 to 55 liters)
Barrique
A vat (approx.. 200 to 250 liters)
Bas
A stocking
Basin
Bombazine (a type of fabric usually made of silk and/or wool)
Bassin
A soup plate
Bâtiment
A ship
Benjoin
A type of resin
Bilettes
Processed sticks of wood (oak) in bundles; usually used as firewood
Boisseau
Bushel; unit of measurement for dry goods of approx. 12.5 liters
Bordée
To heavily fire cannons at something or someone
Botte
A big vat
Boucau/Boucaut
A vat
Bourse (commune)
Public (trading) exchange or venue
Brague
A part of a gun carriage, used for supporting and mounting a piece of artillery
Braye
The watertightness of a wooden construction such as a ship
Buys
A herring buss; a type of fishing vessel used mostly in the Low Countries

C

Cacheter
To officially seal something (a document)
Cadenas
A padlock
Caiche
A type of ship with a flat bottom, suitable for sailing shallow waters
Caire or possibly Canogne
Coconut fibres
Cale
The hold of a ship
Calfater
Making sure a vessel is watertight
Camelot
A type of coarse woolen fabric
Canasse de tabac
A basket used for storing tobacco
Câpre
Capers
Caret
Rolls of rope
Carguer
To lower a sail
Caution
Bail (financial deposit)
Céné or Séné
A type of laxative
Chanvre
Hemp
Charbon de terre
Coal
Chargement
Cargo
Charte-partie
A charterparty; type of shipping contract
Chiffrer
To number or (numerically) order
Chochenille
Raw material used to produce carmine (red) dye
Chopine
Half a pint (a little less than 250 ml)
Cire
Wax
Compas
A compass
Concert or de concert
(By) mutual agreement
Congé
Permission (f)or leave
Connaissement
Bill of lading
Consort
A share- or stakeholder
Contremaître
Boatswain or bosun; supervisor of the deck department on a vessel
Contremander
Cancelling an order
Coque mole
A (soft) peel, shell or cap
Cordage
Ropes
Corrompre
To spoil or rot
Couchette
A (sofa) bed or bunk
Couette
A type of bed made with feathers
Cuir à empeigne
The outside layer of leather on a shoe

D

Débander
To go one’s own way (disbanding a group)
Déemparé
Helpless
Denrée
(Food)stuff
Derechef
Again; repeated
Dérive (aller à la-)
To become adrift
Détroit
The Straight of Dover; narrowest part of the English Channel
Dériver
Turn in the opposite direction
Divertir
To steal something; to take something off someone
Douvelle
A stave; common shape to saw wood into
Droit de chapeau
Extra premium
Dunette
Quarterdeck; part of a ship, usually elevated at the back, commonly used to house the crew

E

Ecarter la laine
Shearing wool
Echauffer (se-)
To become stale
Echouer (à terre)
To run (a ship) aground
Exclat
A shard
Ecorce
A peel or husk
Ecoutille
A deck shutter
Ecrite en molé or moulé
(A text) in print
Ecritoire
An inkwell or writing instrument
Ecuelle
A bowl
Emparer
To overpower something or someone
Emplette
Procurement; purchase
Enchères (mettre en-)
To put something up for auction
Enseigne
Second lieutenant
Escabeau
A small chair, seat or stairs
Espalmer
To varnish a surface
Espignole
Blunderbuss; a type of firearm that is a predecessor to the shotgun
Estropié
To maim or mutilate something or someone
Etain
Tin
Eteinte de chandelle
The extinguishment of a candle
Exhiber
To discuss something

F

Faisseaux
Bundles; unit of measurement
Fallot
A light/lamp at the stern of a ship
Fanon de baleine
Whalebone
Fer blanc
Sheet metal
Filasse
Unprocessed flax
Filin
A truss of (hemp) ropes
Flamme
A banner or pennant (flag)
Fleur d’eau
The water surface
Flot (mettre à-)
To make something float (again)
Fret
Freight
Froment
Wheat
Fûtailles
Cooperage

G

Gaillard
Forecastle; the upper deck near the front of a ship
Gaine
A case or container, usually lined with fabric on the inside, to store an object
Galiote
A galiot; a type of small-ish flat-bottomed (merchant) ship suited for coastal navigation
Gâter
To spoil or rot
Gaules
Imperfections in the metal used in arms or artillery, caused by pockets of air during the forging of the metal
Goudron
Tar
Gouvernail
A steering wheel
Grappin
A grappling hook
Greslin or Grelin
A type of (thick) rope

H

Hardes
Pieces of clothing
Havre
A port
Havre de Grâce
Le Havre (city in France)
Héler
Calling upon or signaling another ship while at sea
Hoir
An heir; inheritor
Horloge
A watch or clock
Houblon
Hops (plant)
Huissier
A debt collector
Hunier
A topsail

I

Icelle or Icelui
This (one)
Incarnat
Flesh-colored
Incessamment
Immediately
Incontinent
In an instant; (very) soon
Insensiblement
Imperceptibly; unnoticeable
Intelligent
An interpreter
Interligne
Text that is written in between (the) lines

J

Jauger
To measure or gauge
Justeaucorps
A tight-fitting bodice (for men or women)

K

L

Langue or Prendre langue
To gather intelligence
Lest
Unit of measurement for freight (approx. 2 tons)
Lest (avec son)
Carrying ballast
Libération
Termination of employment
Liège
Cork (material)
Loisir (être de - )
To have nothing to do; to sit around

M

Madères
Sticks
Maître (se rendre - )
To overpower something or someone
Manche (couteau à … de bois)
A blade (of a knife)
Maniguette
A type of ginger seed, closely related to cardamom, which can be used as a spice
Manne
A (rectangular) basket
Manoeuvres courantes et dormantes
Subtypes of ropes attached to a mast; courantes to keep a mast standing, dormantes to hoist a sail from the mast.
Marc d’or
A type of gold coin
Mât d’artimon
A mast at the back of a ship
Maturité
Ripe or close to expiration (product or contractual term)
Menu
Small
Mercerie
Yarn
Meule
A grindstone or millstone
Mitraille (cuivre en -)
Scrap material
Mouiller
To be at anchor
Muid
Unit of measurement; a hectoliter (approx. 100 liter) or 70 kilograms; can however also refer to a vat of 200 to 250 liters

N

Noruages
Norwegian

O

Obtempérant
Following up on something
Orange de Chine
An orange (fruit)
Ouillager
To top up on wine

P

Pacotille
Allocation of (a small amount of) goods that sailors can trade or sell for their personal profit
Paga
A certain quantity of things
Panne
A type of expensive, velvety fabric made of mohair
Pansement
Bandages
Papier batard
Type of generally low-quality paper
Parachiver
To finish something
Patagon
A seventeenth-century Habsburg coin
Paves
Tiles (for example, for a street)
Pavillon
A flag
Peser
To weigh
Pierrier
A type of artillery; a mortar that can fire (a bunch of) stones/rocks
Piller
To plunder
Pilote
A pilot or navigator; officer responsible for steering a ship
Pipe
A large vat (approx. 400-560 liter)
Pistolet
A pistol or handgun; can also refer to a dagger
Platilles
Pottery
Plomb à sonder
Instrument used for depth sounding, e.g. measuring the depth of the water
Plomb (saumon de-)
Pieces of lead, commonly used as ballast
Pochon
A little bag
Poids du Roi
A(n official) weigh house in France
Police
A type of contract; policy (for example, insurance)
Potin
An alloy, typically composed of copper, tin and/or lead
Poueston
A soup plate
Poupe
The back part of a ship; stern

Q

Quartaut
Unit of measurement; approx. 50 to 60 liters
Quartier (demander -)
(Requesting) a pardon
Quille
A cone (shape or container)
Quintal
Unit of measurement; approx. 100 kg

R

Rassade
A bead of glass
Rature
Erasure; crossed/stricken out
Rebut
Scraps or cast/written-offs
Receveur
A tax collector
Rédemption des captifs
Purchasing the freedom of captives/prisoners
Redevable
Owing something (e.g. money)
Réfaction
Reconstruction or amelioration
Regréer
To restore
Relâcher
To lift the embargo placed upon a ship; to release it from custody
Remontrance
Warning or protest
Rescousse
To re-take a ship (for example, after a capture incident)
Retenu(e), (à la-)
With the deduction of something
Roussi (peaux de)
A type of cow leather, principally sourced from Russia

S

Sceau
A (wax) seal
Seigle
Rye
Seign
A signature
Sel ammoniaque
Soda; sodium carbonate
Sénéchal
A type of civil servant charged with surveying the courts of justice
Serpillière
A type of (coarse) linen, often used for sails
Solu
Sold
Stoff(ix)
A type of shiny woolen fabric
Sucre mascauade
Raw, unrefined brown sugar

T

Témoignage or Témoin
A witness
Temps (gros -)
Stormy weather
Tierçon
A third (of a unit of measurement)
Tillac (le franc -)
The (whole) length of a ship
Trancher la route
To cut off someone or something (in traffic)
Tribulation
Trials and tribulations; happenings

U

V

Vaquer à
1. To occupy oneself with something 2. To be open to something 3. To have time for something
Velin
A type of paper
Volée de canon
The firing of multiple cannons at once

W

X

Y

Z

Zedoaire
A turmeric root