Also almadie, almade. [ad. Arab. al-masdīyah a ferry-boat, f. saday to cross; cf. It. almadia, Fr. almadie (also used in Eng.).] A river-boat in India and Africa; in the latter applied to a canoe of bark or of a hollowed trunk; in the former also to a boat, 80 ft. in length, and of great swiftness.
[1611. Cotgr. & Florio have it in Fr. and It., but not Eng.]
1681. Blount, Glossogr., Almades, little Boats in the East-Indies, made all of one piece of wood.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., Almadie, in ship-building, a small vessel used by the negroes of Africa, about four fathom long: and made usually of the bark of a tree.
1858. Beveridge, Hist. Ind., I. I. vii. 162. Four lads arrived in an almadia.
