Glossary
- quay
- An artificial landing place or solid docking structure built along water or projecting out into a harbor.
- radical
- The root of a number (e.g., square root, cube root).
- Rhodes
- Island located off the southwest coast of Asia Minor, controlled by the Knights of the Hospital from 1309 until 1552, when it fell to the Ottoman Turks.
- ribband
- A long, narrow, flexible piece of wood, temporarily nailed to the frames of a ship during construction.
- rigging
- The ropes and tackle used to support the mast and operate the sails.
- Romania
- A region comprising Greece, the Aegean Islands and near-by territories that had been part of the Byzantine Empire. The Venetians called the region Romania to refer to the fact that it consisted of the remains of the Roman Empire. It is not identical with the modern country of the same name.
- rudder
- A large, flat, wooden apparatus attached to a ship's stern and used for steering.
- Salonika
- Also known as Thessalonica, Salonika was located in the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea, It was the second largest city in the Byzantine Empire. It came under Venetian control in 1423, but was captured by Ottoman ruler Murad II in 1430.
- saracen
- The medieval term for a Muslim.
- scarf
- Joint connecting two timbers.
- second-order equation
- An algebraic equation in which the quantities are of the second power (e.g.,
) and an added constant.
- shroud
- A rope leading from the top of a mast to the deck, used to relieve lateral strains on the mast.
- soldo
- A medieval term of accounting for 12 piccoli. Pl. soldi.
- sopracomito
- The noble captain of a military galley in the Venetian navy. Pl. sopracomiti.
- spar
- A pole or long piece of timber; a general term for masts, yards, booms, and so on.
- square rig
- The arrangement of masts, sails, and rigging for a vessel equipped primarily with large square sails.
- stay
- A large rope leading from the head of a mast to the deck, used to steady the mast.
- stem
- The timber rising upwards from the keel at the bow, to which the ends of the planking are attached (also stempost); the bow, or forward part, of a ship.
- stern
- The aft, or rear, part of a vessel.
- sternpost
- The timber rising from the keel of the vessel at the stern, to which the ends of the planking are attached and on which the stern rudder hangs.
- stock
- A log or block of wood used to support a ship during construction.
- strake
- A plank or planks on the bottom or sides of a vessel stretching from stem to stern.
- stringer
- A thick longitudinal timber on the inside of a vessel's frame, used to reinforce the structure.
- sultan
- The sovereign or ruler of a Muslim country.
