velum

Meaning

(declension-2) a cloth, covering, curtain, veil, awning
(declension-2, plural-normally) the sail of a ship
(declension-2) the soft palate

sail

πανί

vela

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

[ˈweː.ɫũː]

From Proto-Italic *wekslom (note the Latin term's diminutive form vēxillum (as in pālus > pāxillus), which lends credence to this reconstruction), with two competing theories: * From Proto-Indo-European *wegslom, from *weg- (“to weave, bind”). Cognate with English wick, Welsh gweu (“to weave”). * Others refer it to *weǵʰ- (“to ride”), thus "that which propels"; in this case, cognate with Proto-Slavic *veslo (“oar”). This is semantically less attractive than the above theory.