Other forms: sailed, sailing, sails
To sail is to travel across water in a boat pushed by the wind. Sail to France, set sail, sailing lessons.
A sail works as a wing rather than a bag: air moving faster over the curved side creates lift, which is why a boat can sail across the wind and even partly into it. Sailing close to the wind means taking a risk. Note that the noun and verb are the same old Germanic word.
1verbsailTo travel across water in a boat pushed by the wind.
“We sailed across the bay in a small boat.”
2nounsheetThe sheet of cloth that catches the wind.
“They raised the sails, and the little boat moved slowly out of the harbour.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
sail is a way of travelling by water.
Old English segl is a Germanic word for a sail, and the verb comes from it. Its ultimate origin is uncertain.
Old English
seġl
Middle English
saile
English, today
sail
From Middle English saile, from Old English seġl. From Middle English saile, sayle, seil, seyl, from Old English seġl, from Proto-West Germanic segl, from Proto-Germanic seglą. Cognate with West Frisian seil, Low German Segel, Dutch zeil, German Segel, Danish sejl, Swedish segel.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA