in the navy, a light nimble ship built for the purposes of sailing swiftly. These vessels mount from 20 to 38 guns, and are esteemed excellent cruisers.

Formerly the name of frigate was only known in the Mediterranean, and applied to a kind of long vessel navigated in that sea with sails and oars. The English were the first who appeared on the ocean with those ships, and equipped them for war as well as commerce.