Possibly from 'Sphinx' (the yacht that first flew one), altered by sailors' speech—origin debated.
A large, lightweight triangular sail set forward of the mast on a yacht when running before the wind.
Traditionally said to derive from 'Sphinx,' the name of the yacht that first carried such a sail in the 1860s, with the word altered in sailors' pronunciation. An alternative theory links it to 'spin' (the sail spins out from the mast). The exact origin remains debated. Key roots: Sphinx or Sphinxer (disputed) (English: "possibly from the yacht Sphinx, whose crew