When frigates became cruisers

When did the term cruiser replace frigate, and why?

The Royal Navy dates formal cruiser design to 1888 within a broader 1870s-1880s transition, while the older frigate and cruising functions continued.

The historical change from frigate to cruiser is part of the evening's central problem. The Royal Navy's formal design usage is dated to 1888, within a broader transition during the 1870s and 1880s from ironclad frigates to recognized cruisers. The newer term may also have carried useful prestige. The older cruising functions of patrol, scouting, trade protection, and enforcement continued across the change in name.