Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BI'LAND-ER, n. [D. bylander; Fr. belande, belandre; Sp. bilandra; from be, by, and land; Ger. binnenlander.]

A small merchant vessel with two masts, distinguished from other vessels of two masts, by the form of the main-sail, which is bent to the whole length of a yard, hanging fore and aft, and inclined to the horizon in an angle of about 45 degrees; the foremost lower corner, called the tack, being secured to a ring-bolt in the deck, and the aftermost, or sheet, to the tafferel. Few vessels are now rigged in this manner. – Encyc. Mar. Dict. The bilander is a kind of hoy, manageable by four or five men, and used chiefly in the canals of the Low Countries. – Johnson.