from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
NAUFRAGE, French mar. law. When, by the violent agitation of the waves, the
impetuosity of the winds, the storm, or the lightning, a vessel is swallowed
up, or so shattered that there remain only the pieces, the accident is
called naufrage.
2. It differs from echouement, which is, when the vessel, remains
whole, but is grounded; or from bris, which is, when it strikes against a
rock or a coast; or from sombrer, which is, the sinking of the vessel in the
sea, when it is swallowed up, and which may be caused by any accident
whatever. Pardes. n. 643, Vide Wreck.