paravane

noun

para·vane ˈper-ə-ˌvān

ˈpa-rə-

: a torpedo-shaped protective device with serrate teeth in its forward end used underwater by a ship in mined areas to sever the moorings of mines

Word History

Etymology

probably from French para- "averting, protecting against" (as in parachute parachute entry 1) + English -vane (in hydrovane "hydrofoil")

Note: The device was developed in 1914-15 by the British naval officers Charles Dennistoun Burney and Cecil Vivian Usborne. Note that this word does not follow the usual structure of such derivatives in French, in which the second element denotes the thing averted, or, more rarely, the thing protected (as in parados "bank of earth behind a fortification trench"). The element -vane is in effect the instrument rather than the thing averted.

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of paravane was in 1919

See more words from the same year