noun

1. an apparatus, mainly on ships, around which cables or hawsers are wound for hoisting anchors, lifting weights, etc.: it consists of an upright, spool-shaped cylinder that is turned on an inner shafting by machinery or by hand
2. a rotating spindle in a tape recorder mechanism that regulates the speed at which the tape is driven past the head

Etymology: ME < OProv cabestan < ? L capistrum, halter, muzzle < capere, to take: see have