ceintrer

A maritime spelling variant of the more common cintrer, preserved specifically in naval vocabulary for binding a ship's hull with turns of cable. Outside that narrow nautical use, cintrer (to bend/arch something into a curve, common in architecture and metalworking) is the standard spelling.

• Les marins ont ceintré la coque du navire avec des câbles. — The sailors bound the ship's hull with cables.
• Le navire a dû être ceintré après la tempête pour éviter qu'il ne se disloque. — The ship had to be cable-bound after the storm to keep it from breaking apart.
• Cette technique de ceintrage était courante sur les vieux voiliers. — This cable-binding technique was common on old sailing ships.

Outside of specifically maritime writing, use cintrer instead — ceintrer is essentially a nautical spelling fossil the Académie française doesn't otherwise recognize as the standard form.

Often confused with cintrer.