Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MAR-TIN-GAL, n. [Fr. martingale; It and Sp. martingala. The Portuguese call it gamarra.]

1. A strap or thong fastened to the girth under a horse's belly, and at the other end to the musrole, passing between the fore legs. Encyc.
2. In ships; a rope extending from the jib-boom, to the end of a bumpkin under the cap of the bowsprit. Mar. Dict