Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SHEET, n.² [Fr. ecoute; Sp. and Port. escota; It. scotte. This word seems to be connected with scot or shot; Sp. escotar, to cut out clothes, to pay one's scot or share of taxes, and in nautical language, to free a ship of water by pumping. The word is probably from that root, or from shoot.]

In nautical language, a rope fastened to one or both the lower-corners of a sail to extend and retain it in a particular situation. When a ship sails with a side-wind, the lower corners of the main and fore-sails are fastened with a tack and a sheet. – Mar. Dict.