## Etymology
A shortening of brigantine (from Italian brigantino, from brigante, 'brigand'), originally a fast two-masted ship; the 'shipboard prison' sense is American naval slang.

## AI Etymology
Brig is a shortening of brigantine (from Italian brigantino, from brigante, 'brigand'), originally a fast two-masted ship; the 'shipboard prison' sense is American naval slang. The historical trail runs through brigantino in Italian. Used as a noun, brig now means "a two-masted square-rigged ship; a prison on a warship", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as brigantine. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Transportation

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brig

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