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In the 17th–19th centuries, a frigate was a three-masted, fully rigged sailing ship, often carrying 30–40 guns in all. Smaller and faster than ships of the line (the principal vessels of naval warfare), frigates served as scouts or as escorts protecting merchant convoys; they also cruised the seas as merchant raiders themselves. In World War II, Britain revived the term frigate using it to describe escort ships equipped with sonar and depth charges, and used these ships to guard convoys from submarines. In the postwar decades, the frigate also adopted an antiaircraft role, adding radar and surface-to-air missiles. Modern frigates can sail at a speed of 30 knots and carry a crew of 200.
Examples of frigate in a Sentence
Bret Stephens, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2026
In 1986, the fleet included 113 frigates, ships smaller than destroyers but vital for missions such as escorting convoys.
—Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2026
Cord grass ripples across these languorous northern marshes and, while ships lay wounded and stranded in the former Aral, all that remains of the old Parkgate are some very old photographs, showing frigates, sand, and some very fetching Victorian bathing attire.
—Rob Crossan, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Mar. 2026
While heading for resupply before its next escort mission, the frigate encountered a minefield laid by Iran the night before, according to Cox.
—Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 22 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Frigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frigate. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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frigate
noun
