xebeck

English

Noun

xebeck (plural xebecks)

1. Archaic form of xebec.
   • 1744, “a sea-officer” [Thomas Mathews?], A Narrative of the Proceedings of His Majesty’s Fleet in the Mediterranean, and the Combined Fleets of France and Spain, from the Year 1741, to March 1744. Including an Accurate Account of the Late Fight near Toulon, and the Causes of Our Miscarriage: The Lines of Battle on Both Sides, Plans of Villa Franca, Naples, Hieres Bay, and Toulon: The French Admiral’s Journal in French and English, from the Time He Left Toulon, until He Anchored with His Fleet in Alicant Road. Likewise Some Signals Greatly Wanted on the Late Occasion: And a List of Captains and Lieutenants Made by Admiral Mathews in the Mediterranean, Their Different Removes, &c. With Many Useful Observations, London: Printed for J. Millan, near Whitehall, →OCLC, page 25:

     Fourteen Xebecks loaded with Ammunition, Cannon, and other warlike Stores from Majorca, bound to any Part of Italy, where they could be landed for the Uſe of the Spaniſh Army, having got ſafe to Genoa in the latter End of June, Admiral Mathews on board of the Namur, with the Barfleur, Norfolk, Princeſs Caroline, Ipſwich and Revenge went there, and concluded a Treaty; […]

   • 2005, Daniel Panzac, John E. Hawkes, “The Commercial Fleets of the Maghreb”, in Victoria Hobson, transl., edited by Suraiya Faroqhi and Halil İnalcık, Barbary Corsairs: The End of a Legend 1800–1820 (The Ottoman Empire and Its Heritage: Politics, Society and Economy; 29), Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, pages 193–194:

     The choice of ship of the Maghrebi sailors was influenced above all by local traditions, by their different objectives, and by the availability of the vessels. It is apparent that the xebeck, with its sleek lines, its reputation for speed—admittedly at the expense of its carrying capacity—was the preferred choice of the North Africans. It is true that the xebeck served in privateering and at least a percentage of the ships assigned to shipping merchandise were converted corsairs, with somewhat reduced gunpowder and much smaller crews.