frigate

noun

frig·​ate ˈfri-gət 

1

: a light boat propelled originally by oars but later by sails

2

: a square-rigged war vessel intermediate between a corvette and a ship of the line

3

: a modern warship that is smaller than a destroyer

Did you know?

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Sailing with it was a Canadian frigate, the H.M.C.S. Ottawa. —Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2023

Her career has lasted more than 30 years and involved service on everything from a frigate to destroyers and cruisers. —Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Oct. 2023

Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014 forced Vietnam to source frigates in Russia but get key parts for them in Ukraine, an awkward scramble. —Hannah Beech, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2023

The royal is also the sponsor of HMS Glasgow, the first of the Royal Navy’s new type 26 frigates, which is currently under construction. —Rosa Sanchez, Harper's BAZAAR, 11 Aug. 2023

Europe has 27 different types of howitzers, 20 types of fighter jets and 26 types of destroyers and frigates, according to an analysis by McKinsey & Company. —Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2023

The 1816 wreck of the French frigate Medusa, from which just a handful of passengers survived after nearly two weeks on a makeshift raft, was still very recent history when Théodore Géricault painted the scene. —Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 18 Sep. 2023

Europe has 27 different types of howitzers, 20 types of fighter jets, and 26 types of destroyers and frigates, according to an analysis by McKinsey & Company. —Patricia Cohen, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Sep. 2023

The incident occurred on Saturday as the American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal executed a transit in the international waters of the Taiwan Strait, the body of water that separates the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, according to officials. —Luis Martinez, ABC News, 4 June 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Middle French, from Old Italian fregata

First Known Use

1583, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing frigate

• frigate bird

• frigate bird

Kids Definition

frigate

noun

frig·​ate ˈfrig-ət 

1

: a medium-sized square-rigged warship

2

: a modern warship that is smaller than a destroyer and that is used for escort and patrol duties