Nautical, Transport A staysail that resembles a jib but extends aft beyond the mast.
The more the backstay is tightened, the less the headstay will sag off to leeward, forming a rigid and more efficient arc along the luff of the genoa while beating to weather.1982 January, Jerry Cartwright, “Cruising Seamanship”, in Motorboating & Sailing, volume 149, number 2, page 23:
Etymology Borrowed from Latin Genua (with influence from Italian Genova), as the city was known by the ancient Ligurians. Probably from the Ancient Ligurian word for “knee”, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénw-eh₂ (“knee”), a thematic derivative of Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu; in this sense “angle”, from its geographical position, thus akin to Geneva.