Plural of burton; mechanical lifting devices or tackle used on ships, consisting of a combination of pulleys.
From the proper name 'Burton' (likely a designer or inventor), used as a generic term for this type of pulley system. In nautical terminology, the term became standardized for the specific rigging configuration.
Sailors called these pulley systems 'burtons,' possibly named after their inventor, and they were genius devices that multiplied human strength—a small crew could lift incredibly heavy cargo using simple physics!
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