A young or small broadside ship or broad-beamed vessel.
From 'broad' + '-ling,' a diminutive suffix (from Old English -ling) suggesting something smaller or younger. This nautical term appears in naval records from the 17th-18th centuries but is now archaic.
The '-ling' suffix appears in words like 'duckling' and 'nestling' to show youth or small size, but 'broadling' never caught on like those terms did—naval terminology simply evolved different words.
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