Dictionary

bilander en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɪləndɚ/

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch bijlander, equivalent to by- + lander. See also belandre.

Meanings

1. (historical) A small two-masted merchant vessel, used near the coast or in canals, mostly in the Netherlands.
   • Why choose we, then, like bilanders to creep / Along the coast, and land in view to keep? 1687, [John Dryden], “(please specify the page number)”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
   • it being fine weather, all the bilanders and fiſhing boats, that had returned after the first imbarkation, into the harbour, went out again with another body of troops March 1744, Scots Magazine, and Edinburgh Literary Miscellany:

Forms