caravel

car·a·vel or car·a·velle  (kr-vl) also car·vel (kärvl, -vl)

n. Nautical

Any of several types of small, light sailing ships, especially one with two or three masts and lateen sails used by the Spanish and Portuguese in the 15th and 16th centuries.

---

[French caravelle, from Old French, from Old Portuguese caravela, diminutive of cáravo, ship, from Late Latin crabus, a small wicker boat, from Late Greek krabos, light ship, from Greek, horned beetle.]