almadia
(ælməˈdiːə)
Also almadie, almade.
[ad. Arab. al-maﻋdīyah a ferry-boat, f. ﻋaday to cross; cf. It. almadia, Fr. almadie (also used in Eng.).]
A river-boat in India and Africa; in the latter applied to a canoe of bark or of a hollowed trunk; in the former also to a boat, 80 ft. in length, and of great swiftness.
| [1611 Cotgr. & Florio have it in Fr. and It. but not Eng.] 1681 Blount Glossogr., Almades, little Boats in the East-Indies, made all of one piece of wood. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Almadie, in ship-building, a small vessel used by the negroes of Africa, about four fathom long: and made usually of the bark of a tree. 1858 Beveridge Hist. Ind. I. i. vii. 162 Four lads arrived in an almadia. |