trapeze

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
trapeze/trəˈpiːz/

▶noun

• 1 (also flying trapeze) a horizontal bar hanging by two ropes and free to swing, used by acrobats in a circus.

• 2 Sailing a harness attached by a cable to a dinghy's mast, enabling a sailor to balance the boat by leaning out backwards over the windward side.

– origin C19: from Fr. trapèze, from late L. trapezium (see trapezium).