/kap"steuhn, -stan/ , n.
1. any of various windlasses, rotated in a horizontal plane by hand or machinery, for winding in ropes, cables, etc.
2. a rotating spindle or shaft, powered by an electric motor, that transports magnetic tape past the heads of a tape recorder at a constant speed.
[ 1350-1400; ME cabestan ( t ) cabestan, var. of cabestran, presumably prp. of * cabest ( r ) ar, a v. deriv. of cabestre halter capistrum ]