Corsairs built their xebecs with a narrow floor to achieve a higher speed than their victims, but with a considerable beam in order to enable them to carry an extensive sail-plan.

The lateen rig of the xebec allowed the ship to sail close hauled to the wind, often giving it an advantage in pursuit or escape.

[10] Some victorious xebecs of the Spanish Navy, about 1770 (see Antonio Barceló campaigns... in the Spanish version of the page of Wikipedia): Notable xebecs of the French Navy include four launched in 1750: In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a large polacre-xebec carried a square rig on the foremast, lateen sails on the other masts, a bowsprit, and two headsails.

[11] Xebec is also written as xebeck, xebe(c)que, zebec(k), zebecque, chebec, shebeck (/ʃɪˈbɛk/); from (Catalan: xabec, French: chabec, now chebec, Spanish: xabeque, now jabeque, Portuguese: enxabeque, now xaveco, Italian: sciabecco, zambecco, stambecco, Maltese: xambekk, Greek: σεμπέκο, sebeco Ligurian: sciabécco, Arabic: شبكة, shabaka and Turkish: sunbeki).

Words similar in form and meaning to xebec occur in Catalan, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic and Turkish.