The corvette is a category of small warship, light and fast, which appeared in France at the end of the 17th century.
Until 1746, this category of ship was associated with that of the long boat.
It is first of all a small three-masted ship, which is never armed with more than twenty guns in battery, which is used to carry out missions of discovery (Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 1787). It also serves as a liaison to transmit orders or letters (Dictionary of the French Navy 1788 – 1792). Many corvettes will later be used for merchant transport.
Its size over the centuries increases to the point that the corvettes of the revolutionary era are worth the light frigates, of 6 and 8, of the previous century.