A rope or cable on a ship that extends from the mast forward to help support and steady the mast.
From fore- (forward/front) + shroud (a rope supporting a mast, from Old Norse 'skrúð' meaning clothing or covering). Nautical terminology borrowed heavily from Scandinavian languages due to Viking maritime dominance.
Shrouds on ships aren't named after burial cloths by coincidence—both words come from the same root meaning 'to cover or wrap,' because the ropes literally wrapped around and held the mast like a protective covering, and eventually 'shroud' took on the grim association with death.
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