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timón

rudder

noun tee-MOHN Rare

Origin: From Latin temo, temonis (pole, beam of a plow or ship).

Also means

helm

Usage Note

Timón refers both to the physical rudder of a ship or airplane and, figuratively, to the helm or leadership of an organization — llevar el timón means 'to be at the helm'. In some Latin American countries it is also the word for a car's steering wheel, where Spain uses volante. The plural is regular: timones.

Examples

"El capitán giró el timón hacia la derecha."

Natural Translation

The captain turned the rudder to the right.

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