Definition of Frigate

1. Noun. A medium size square-rigged warship of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Generic synonyms: Combat Ship, War Vessel, Warship

2. Noun. A United States warship larger than a destroyer and smaller than a cruiser.
Specialized synonyms: Guided Missile Frigate
Generic synonyms: Combat Ship, War Vessel, Warship

Definition of Frigate

1. n. Originally, a vessel of the Mediterranean propelled by sails and by oars. The French, about 1650, transferred the name to larger vessels, and by 1750 it had been appropriated for a class of war vessels intermediate between corvettes and ships of the line. Frigates, from about 1750 to 1850, had one full battery deck and, often, a spar deck with a lighter battery. They carried sometimes as many as fifty guns. After the application of steam to navigation steam frigates of largely increased size and power were built, and formed the main part of the navies of the world till about 1870, when the introduction of ironclads superseded them.

Definition of Frigate

1. Noun. (nautical) An obsolete type of sailing warship with a single continuous gun deck, typically used for patrolling, blockading, etc, but not in line of battle. ¹

2. Noun. (nautical) A 19th c. type of warship combining sail and steam propulsion, typically of ironclad timber construction, supplementing and superseding sailing ships of the battle line until made obsolete by the development of the solely steam-propelled iron battleship. ¹

3. Noun. (nautical) A modern type of warship, smaller than a destroyer, originally (WWII) introduced as an anti-submarine vessel but now general purpose. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Frigate

1. a sailing vessel [n -S]

Medical Definition of Frigate

1. 1. Originally, a vessel of the Mediterranean propelled by sails and by oars. The French, about 1650, transferred the name to larger vessels, and by 1750 it had been appropriated for a class of war vessels intermediate between corvettes and ships of the line. Frigates, from about 1750 to 1850, had one full battery deck and, often, a spar deck with a lighter battery. They carried sometimes as many as fifty guns. After the application of steam to navigation steam frigates of largely increased size and power were built, and formed the main part of the navies of the world till about 1870, when the introduction of ironclads superseded them. (Formerly spelled frigat and friggot.) 2. Any small vessel on the water. Frigate bird Same as Frigate bird. Origin: F. Fregate, It. Fregata, prob. Contracted fr. L. Fabricata something constructed or. Built. See Fabricate. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Frigate

frienemy
frier
friers
fries
frieze
friezed
friezeless
friezelike
friezer
friezers
friezes
friezing
frig around
frigate (current term)
frigate bird
frigatebird
frigatebirds
frigates
frigatoon
frigatoons
frigefaction
frigefactions
frigefactive
frigerate
frigerated
frigerates
frigerating
friges

Literary usage of Frigate

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Bulletin of the New York Public Library by New York Public Library (1903)
"ACCOUNT OF CAPTURE OF US SHIP FROLIC BY THE ORPHEUS frigate, CAPTAIN HUGH PIGOT, 19 APRIL 1814. Printed from the original manuscript in the Ford Collection, ..."

2. The American Naturalist by American Society of Naturalists, Essex Institute (1880)
"THE frigate MACKEREL, Auxis ROCHEI, ON THE NEW ENGLAND COAST. — The United States Fish Commission has obtained numerous specimens of a fish, before entirely ..."

3. The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events by Frank Moore, Edward Everett (1861)
"It being impossible to get them out of the harbor, they were scuttled, and were also fired. The frigate Cumberland was towed out by the steam-tug Yankee. ..."

4. The Dictionary of National Biography by Sidney Lee (1908)
"In March 1803 he was appointed to the Minerve frigate, but had only just joined her when a severe wound, given" by a block falling on his head, ..."

5. History of the Late War Between the United States and Great Britain by Henry Marie Brackenridge (1844)
"than that of the United States, and the first of the Constitution the flag of another British frigate was transmitted to our capitol, and was placed amongst ..."

6. Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the Olden Time: In the Olden by John Fanning Watson (1857)
"ALLIANCE frigate. As Philadelphians, we are entitled to some pre-eminence ... In the year 1781, she and the Deane frigate were the only two of our former ..."

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