governail
/ˈɡʌvə(ɹ)nəl/
governail noun: that which steers a nautical vessel; a rudder or a person employing it.
Noun
governail
- That which steers a nautical vessel; a rudder or a person employing it.
- We immediately threw out all the little things we had with us, ſuch as biſcuits, apples, &c. and after that one of our oars or wings; but ſtill deſcending, we caſt away the other wing, and then the governail ; having likewiſe had the precaution, for fear of accidents, while the Balloon was filling...1786, John Jeffries, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, A narrative of the two aerial Voyages of Dr. J. with Mons. Blanchard: with meteorological observations and remarks., page 45
- That he has contrived a “ self-acting governail, which has the peculiar power of directing the course of the vessel, entirely independent of the action of the helm, and which is positively called into operation by the very presence of danger."1834, The Printing Machine: Or Companion to the Library, and Register of Progressive Knowledge, Volumes 1-3, London: William Clover, page 61
Origin of governail
From Middle English governail, governaile from Middle French and Old French governail, from Latin gubernāculum. Doublet of gubernaculum.
Questions about governail
- What does governail mean?
- Governail means that which steers a nautical vessel; a rudder or a person employing it.
- What part of speech is governail?
- Governail is a noun.
- How do you pronounce governail?
- Governail is pronounced /ˈɡʌvə(ɹ)nəl/.
Words near governail in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: governail (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “governail.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/governail. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.