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pinnace (n.)

type of small, light vessel, generally with two masts and rigged like a schooner but capable of being propelled by oars, 1540s, from Middle French pinace (earlier spinace, 15c., from Old French espinace, Modern French péniche; also attested as Anglo-Latin spinachium (mid-14c.)); a word of unknown origin.

The French word perhaps is from Italian pinaccia or Spanish pinaza, so called for being built of pine wood, from pino "pine tree; ship" (Latin pinus "pine tree" also had a secondary sense of "ship, vessel"). But variations in early forms makes this uncertain. In old slang also "a woman," especially "a mistress, a prostitute" (1560s).

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Definitions of pinnace from WordNet

pinnace (n.)
a boat for communication between ship and shore;
Synonyms: tender / ship's boat / cutter
From wordnet.princeton.edu