pitch

From Middle English picchen, pycchen (“to thrust in, fasten, settle”), from Old English *piċċan, from Proto-West Germanic *pikkijan, a variant of Proto-West Germanic *pikkōn (“to pick, peck”), whence Middle English pikken, picken (“to pick, pierce”), modern English pick.

килово клатене

nautical: measure of extent to which a vessel's bow and stern go up and down

the pitch of an aircraft

The rotation angle about the transverse axis.

(nautical, aviation) The degree to which a vehicle, especially a ship or aircraft, rotates on such an axis, tilting its bow or nose up or down. Compare with roll, yaw, and heave.

nyökkääminen

aviation: measure of the degree to which an aircraft's nose tilts up or down


pitch

en-verb

pitch (third-person singular simple present pitches, present participle pitching, simple past and past participle pitched or (obsolete) pight)

pitches (present singular third-person)
pitching (participle present)
pitched (participle past)
pitched (past)
pight (obsolete participle past)
pight (obsolete past)

Spanish: pichar

uhrata

card games: discard a card for some gain

The typhoon pitched the deck of the ship.

The airplane pitched.

His bone leg steadied in that hole ; one arm elevated, and holding by a shroud ; Captain Ahab stood erect, looking straight out beyond the ship's ever-pitching prow.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 28, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 136:

Half a dozen deserted boats pitched aimlessly upon the confusion of the waves.

1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 103:

(transitive, intransitive, aviation or nautical) To move so that the front of an aircraft or boat goes alternatively up and down.

jyskiä

move so that the front of the craft goes alternatively up and down


CD

en-noun

CD (countable and uncountable, plural CDs)

Abbreviation of various terms and phrases.


SRC

Short Range Certificate
Short Range Certificate#English

(nautical) Initialism of Short Range Certificate (certificate that entitles the holder to operate a maritime VHF radio).


call

call (countable and uncountable, plural calls)

→ Armenian: քոլ (kʻol)

→ Georgian: ქოლი (koli)

From Middle English callen, from Old English ceallian (“to call, shout”) and Old Norse kalla (“to call; shout; refer to as; name”); both from Proto-Germanic *kalzōną (“to call, shout”), from Proto-Indo-European *golH-so- (“voice, cry”), from *gel(H)- (“to vocalize, call, shout”).
cognates
* Scots call
* caw, ca (“to call, cry, shout”)
* Dutch kallen (“to chat, talk”),
* German kallen (“to call”) obsolete
* Swedish kalla (“to call, refer to, beckon”)
* Norwegian kalle (“to call, name”)
* Danish kalde (“to call, name”)
* Icelandic kalla (“to call, shout, name”)
* Welsh galw (“to call, demand”)
* Polish głos (“voice”)
* Lithuanian gal̃sas (“echo”)
* Russian голос (golos, “voice”)
* Albanian gjuhë (“language, tongue”).

cog

the call is coming from inside the house

The ship made a call at Southampton.

(nautical) A visit by a ship or boat to a port.

käynti

nautical: visit by a ship or boat to a port

(nautical) A whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his mate to summon the sailors to duty.

puosunpilli

nautical: whistle or pipe used to summon the sailors to duty


lunar

From Middle English lunar (“shaped like the crescent moon”), from Latin lūnāris (“of or pertaining to the moon, lunar”) (possibly through Middle French lunaire (modern French lunaire (“lunar”)), from lūna (“the Moon; crescent shape”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to shine”)) + -is (suffix forming adjectives).

der

[Y]oung beginners cannot be too often cautioned that a single lunar is of little or no value until the observer knows the usual difference between his lunars taken on opposite sides of the moon; and these should be taken with the same instrument, using the same screens and telescope, for he must remember that they may be expected to differ. My star lunars differ from three to four minutes, or say fifty miles of longitude; my sun lunars from one to two minutes, or say twenty minutes of longitude.

1859 October, Henry Toynbee, “A Few More Words on Lunars”, in The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle: A Journal of Papers on Subjects Connected with Maritime Affairs, volume XXVIII, number 10, London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co. […]; and J. D. Potter, […], →OCLC, page 511:

With cheap quartz watches (several, for reliability) we can do all the modern celestial navigation we could want. But learning and practicing lunars gives us deeper insight into celestial navigation; an appreciation for their historical importance and difficulty; and perhaps most significant of all, after conquering lunars we can appreciate the great convenience of St. Hilaire sights and modern quartz watches. Moreover, in the rare event of losing UT, with lunars and only a poor watch we can still be confident of finding our longitude at sea (well, OK, to within 30′).

2007, John Karl, “Lunar Distance Sights”, in Celestial Navigation in the GPS Age, Arcata, Calif.: Paradise Cay Publications; Wichita, Kan.: Celestaire, →ISBN, pages 96–97:

(nautical, navigation) An observation of a lunar distance (“the angle between the Moon and another celestial body”), especially for establishing the longitude of a ship at sea.


tort

en-adj

tort (comparative torter, superlative tortest)

torter (comparative)
tortest (superlative)


premier

Borrowed from Middle French premier (adjective), from Latin prīmārius. Doublet of primary.

prime minister

parliamentary leader of government and leader of cabinet in a national parliament

prime minister

head of government in a non-Westminster system

(nautical, slang) The first lieutenant or other second-in-command officer of a ship.

втори офицер

nautical slang: the second-in-command officer of a ship


sonar

en-noun

sonar (countable and uncountable, plural sonars)

→ Catalan: sonar

→ Dutch: sonar

desctree

→ French: sonar
→ Romanian: sonar
→ Turkish: sonar

→ German: Sonar

→ Italian: sonar

→ Polish: sonar

→ Portuguese: sonar

→ Serbo-Croatian: sonar

→ Spanish: sonar

From SONAR, acronym of sound navigation and ranging. Coined by American scientist Frederick Vinton Hunt in the 1940s.

coin

(nautical) A device that uses hydrophones (in the same manner as radar) to locate objects underwater.


kayak

Borrowed from Inuktitut ᖃᔭᖅ (qayaq, “hunter's boat”) (Inuvialuktun), from Proto-Eskimo *qayaʁ. Compare Greenlandic qajaq and Yup'ik qayaq.

A type of small boat, covered over by a surface deck, powered by the occupant or occupants using a double-bladed paddle in a sitting position, from a hole in the surface deck


canoe

→ German: Kanu

→ Irish: canú

Adopted in 16th century from Spanish canoa, from Taíno *kanowa (“dugout canoe”) (compare Lokono kanoa (“canoe”), Wayuu anuwa, anua (“boat, canoe”)), from Proto-Arawak *kanawa.

The canoe is of pure black oak, and is in excellent preservation.

1886 January 12, The Antiquary: A Magazine Devoted to the Study of the Past, volume XIII, number 73, page 135:

He and Gerald usually challenged the rollers in a sponson canoe when Gerald was there for the weekend; […]

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

A small long and narrow boat, propelled by one or more people (depending on the size of canoe), using single-bladed paddles. The paddlers face in the direction of travel, in either a seated position, or kneeling on the bottom of the boat. Canoes are open on top, and pointed at both ends.

(slang) An oversize, usually older, luxury car.

(gambling) Any of the deflectors positioned around a roulette wheel, shaped like upside-down boats.


canoe

en-verb

canoe (third-person singular simple present canoes, present participle canoeing, simple past and past participle canoed)

canoes (present singular third-person)
canoeing (participle present)
canoed (participle past)
canoed (past)

Car drivers were helicoptered to safety from nearby roads. There were photographs of people canoeing down streets.

2023 November 29, Paul Clifton, “West is best in the Highlands”, in RAIL, number 997, page 40:


line

→ Scottish Gaelic: loidhne

From Middle English line, lyne, from Old English līne (“line, cable, rope, hawser, series, row, rule, direction”), from Proto-West Germanic *līnā, from Proto-Germanic *līnǭ (“line, rope, flaxen cord, thread”), from Proto-Germanic *līną (“flax, linen”), from Proto-Indo-European *līno- (“flax”).
Influenced in Middle English by Middle French ligne (“line”), from Latin linea. More at linen.
The oldest sense of the word is “rope, cord, thread”; from this the senses “path”, “continuous mark” were derived.

lyn

path through two or more points, threadlike mark

lyn

single horizontal row of text on a screen, printed paper, etc.

linja

measure of length, the main division of an inch or its local equivalent

A more-or-less straight sequence of people, objects, etc., either arranged as a queue or column and often waiting to be processed or dealt with, or arranged abreast of one another in a row (and contrasted with a column), as in a military formation.

(military, nautical) Ellipsis of line of battle.


oar blade

The flanged portion of an oar; not the handle nor the shaft.


roadster

(nautical) A clumsy vessel that works its way from one anchorage to another by means of the tides.


jaunty

Formerly spelt janty, from French gentil. See gentle, and compare genty. Doublet of genteel, gentile, and gentle.

(nautical) A master-at-arms onboard a Royal Navy ship.


gunport

A hatch in the hull of a ship through which a cannon is fired.

tykkiportti

a hatch in the hull of a ship through which a cannon is fired


porthole

Alteration of portal, as is from port + hole.

(nautical) A circular window set in the hull of a ship.


luff

From Old French lof. Collins English Dictionary states that this word is ultimately derived from Middle Dutch loef. Ellert Ekwall's Shakspere's Vocabulary: its etymological elements (1903) related this verb and loof instead to the East Frisian verb lofen, lufen, which would make it cognate to the French term lover.

By easing the halyard, the luff of the sail was made to sag to leeward.

"The man at the helm was watching the luff of the sail and whistling away gently to himself."

1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:

(nautical) The vertical edge of a sail that is closest to the direction of the wind.

(nautical) The act of sailing a ship close to the wind.

(nautical) The roundest part of a ship's bow.

(nautical) The forward or weather leech of a sail, especially of the jib, spanker, and other fore-and-aft sails.


luff

en-verb

luff (third-person singular simple present luffs, present participle luffing, simple past and past participle luffed)

luffs (present singular third-person)
luffing (participle present)
luffed (participle past)
luffed (past)

I thought how my life is like a little boat and I must hold the tiller steady against the buffeting of wind and waves, and how sometimes, like this morning, I lose my hold somehow and the sail luffs helplessly and the little vessel wallows, turning this way and that in the swell.

(nautical, of a sail, intransitive) To shake due to being trimmed improperly.

"Helm there! Luff, luff a point! So; steady, man, steady!"

(nautical, of sailing vessels, intransitive) To bring the ship's head up closer to the wind. (Alternatively luff up)

(nautical, transitive) to let out (a sail) so that it luffs.


launch

→ Irish: lainse

From Portuguese lancha (“barge, launch”), apparently from Malay lancar (“quick, agile”). Spelling influenced by the verb above.

(nautical) The boat of the largest size and/or of most importance belonging to a ship of war, and often called the "captain's boat" or "captain's launch".

(nautical) A boat used to convey guests to and from a yacht.

(nautical) An open boat of any size powered by steam, petrol, electricity, etc.


sloop

→ Bengali: সুলুপ (śulup)

→ Catalan: sloop

→ Czech: šalupa

→ Danish: slup

→ Estonian: luup

→ Faroese: slupp

→ Finnish: sluuppi

→ French: sloop

→ German: Sloop, Slup, Schlup

→ Icelandic: slúppa

→ Italian: sloop

→ Norwegian: slupp

→ Polish: slup

→ Serbo-Croatian: слуп (slup)

→ Slovene: šalupa

→ Swedish: slup

→ Thai: สลุบ (sà-lùp)

Borrowed from Dutch sloep. Doublet of chalupa and shallop.

1789, Olaudah Equiano (Gustavus Vassa), The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano,
I stayed in this island for a few days; I believe it could not be above a fortnight; when I and some few more slaves, that were not saleable amongst the rest, from very much fretting, were shipped off in a sloop for North America.

And where but from Nantucket, too, did that first adventurous little sloop put forth, partly laden with imported cobblestones—so goes the story—to throw at the whales, in order to discover when they were nigh enough to risk a harpoon from the bowsprit?

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 2, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 8:

Mr. Cooke had had a sloop yacht built at Far Harbor, the completion of which had been delayed, and which was but just delivered.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

(nautical) A single-masted sailboat with only one headsail.


fireball

/ˈfaɪəɹˌbɔl/

Chelyabinsk meteor
Nevada Test Site
Operation Upshot–Knothole

The noun is derived from fire (noun) + ball (noun). The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.

tulipallo

bag or ball filled with combustible material; (heraldry) charge depicting a disc-shaped bombshell

(sailing) A class of sailing dinghy with a single trapeze and a symmetrical spinnaker, sailed by a crew of two.


ply

ply (third-person singular simple present plies, present participle plying, simple past and past participle plied)

plies (present singular third-person)
plying (participle present)
plied (participle past)
plied (past)

From apply; compare Middle English plīen, pli, plie, pleie (“to place (something) around, on, or over, to cover; to apply, use; to strive”), short for aplīen, applīen (“to combine, join; to attach; to assemble; to use, be of use; to allot; to apply; to inflict; to go; to ply, steer; to comply, submit”), from Old French applier, aplier, aploier (“to bend; to apply”), from Latin applicāre, present active infinitive of applicō (“to apply; to attach, join; to add”), from ad- (“to, towards”) + plicō (“to bend, fold, roll up”); see further at etymology 1.

Weighed anchor about five morn, and plied till about noon, and then anchored. This day, at morn, went about the general to council: the result was, the fleet should ply near, as with convenience, to the Texel, to prevent a conjunction of those ships there with Admiral [Maarten] Tromp; […]

1653 July 21, William Penn, Granville Penn, “A Journal on the Vanguard”, in Memorial of the Professional Life and Times of Sir William Penn, Knt. Admiral and General of the Fleet, during the Interregnum; Admiral and Commissioner of the Admiralty and Navy, after the Restoration. From 1644 to 1670. … In Two Volumes, volume I, London: James Duncan, […], published 1833, →OCLC, page 535:

(intransitive, nautical, obsolete) To manoeuvre a sailing vessel so that the direction of the wind changes from one side of the vessel to the other; to work to windward, to beat, to tack.


jib

Attested since the 1660s, of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to jib (“shift or swing around”) (see below).

(nautical) A triangular staysail set forward of the foremast. In a sloop (see image) the basic jib reaches back roughly to the level of the mast.

(nautical, usually with a modifier) Any of a variety of specialty triangular staysails set forward of the foremast.


jib

jib (third-person singular simple present jibs, present participle jibbing, simple past and past participle jibbed)

jibs (present singular third-person)
jibbing (participle present)
jibbed (participle past)
jibbed (past)

Attested since the 1680s (also spelled jibe and gybe), perhaps from Dutch gijben (a variant of gijpen (“to turn sails suddenly”), whence certainly the form jibe) or else from Danish gibbe (“jib, jibe”), related to Swedish gippa (“jib, jibe, jerk, make jump”). Compare also Middle High German gempeln (“to spring”), Swedish guppa (“to move up and down”), Swedish gumpa (“to jump, spring”). See jump.

cog

(chiefly nautical) To shift, or swing around, as a sail, boom, yard, etc., as in tacking.


jibe

(nautical, now chiefly US) Alternative spelling of gybe


jibe

en-verb

jibe (third-person singular simple present jibes, present participle jibing, simple past and past participle jibed)

jibes (present singular third-person)
jibing (participle present)
jibed (participle past)
jibed (past)


topsail

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-topsail.wav

From Middle English topsail, topsayl, topseyle, topsaill, equivalent to top + sail.

(nautical) A sail or either of the two sails rigged just above the course sail and supported by the topmast on a square-rigged sailing ship.

(nautical) In a fore-and-aft-rigged sailing boat, the sail that is set above the gaff at the top part of the mast.


hook

sometimes in Northern England and Ireland, otherwise obsolete

From Middle English hoke, from Old English hōc, from Proto-West Germanic *hōk, from Proto-Germanic *hōkaz, variant of *hakô (“hook”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kog-, *keg-, *keng- (“peg, hook, claw”).
Cognates
Compare West Frisian heak, Dutch haak (“hook”)) (compare West Frisian/Dutch hoek (“hook, angle, corner”), Low German Hook, Huuk); also related to hake.

(nautical, chiefly historical) A knee-shaped wooden join connecting the keel to the stem (post forming the frontmost part of the bow) or the sternpost in cog-like vessels or similar vessels.

stevenhaak

knee-shaped wooden join connecting the keel to the stem or the sternpost


ho

From Middle English ho, hoo (interjection), probably from Old Norse hó! (interjection, also, a shepherd's call). Compare Dutch ho, German ho, Old French ho! (“hold!, halt!”).

der

Sail ho! ― Another boat is visible!

Land ho! ― Land is visible!

Man ho! ― A town is visible!

(nautical) Used to attract attention to something sighted, usually by lookouts.


screw

From Middle English screw, scrue (“screw”); apparently, despite the difference in meaning, from Old French escroue (“nut, cylindrical socket, screwhole”), from Latin scrōfa (“female pig”) through comparison with the corkscrew shape of a pig's penis. There is also the Old French escruve (“screw”), from Old Dutch *scrūva ("screw"; whence Middle Dutch schruyve (“screw”)), which probably influenced or conflated with the aforementioned, resulting in the Middle English word.
more on the etymology of screw
Old French escroue (whence Medieval Latin scrofa (“nut, screwhole”)), is believed to be an adaptation of Latin scrōfa (“sow, female pig”); but this development is not found in other Romance languages. (For change in meaning, compare also Spanish puerca, Portuguese porca, both ‘sow; screw nut’, and is based on the fact that a boar's penis has a screw-like tip, making the sow's vulva equivalent to a screw nut by analogy).
Old Dutch *scrūva possibly derives from Proto-Germanic *skrūbō (“screw”), from *skru- (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keru-, *(s)ker- (“to cut”), and is related to German Schraube (“screw”), Low German schruve, schruwe (“screw”), Dutch schroef (“screw”), West Frisian skroef (“screw”), Danish skrue (“screw”), Swedish skruv (“screw, peg”), Icelandic skrúfa (“screw”).
Compare also Occitan escrofa (“screw nut”), Calabrese scrufina (“screw nut”), which may be borrowings of the Old French word, or parallel developments.

gloss

"screw"; whence Middle Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="dum">schruyve</i> (“screw”)

шрүп

predominant in Mongolia, unstandardised spelling

the first turn of the screw pays all debts

It is never possible to settle down to the ordinary routine of life at sea until the screw begins to revolve. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.

1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC, page 01:

A device that has a helical function.
(nautical) A ship's propeller.

A device that has a helical function.
A ship's propeller.


bolt

→ Irish: bolta

→ Japanese: ボルト (boruto)

→ Maltese: bolt

desctree

→ Russian: болт (bolt)
→ Azerbaijani: bolt
→ Ingrian: boltta

→ Scottish Gaelic: bolta

From Middle English bolt, from Old English bolt, from Proto-West Germanic *bolt, from Proto-Germanic *bultaz, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeld- (“to knock, strike”). Compare Lithuanian beldu (“I knock”), baldas (“pole for striking”). Akin to Dutch and West Frisian bout, German Bolz or Bolzen, Danish bolt, Swedish bult, Icelandic bolti.

der

A large roll of fabric or similar material, as a bolt of cloth.

(nautical) The standard linear measurement of canvas for use at sea: 39 yards.


waist

→ Japanese: ウエスト (uesuto)

Inherited from Middle English wast (“waist”), probably from Old English *wæst, *wǣst, *weaxt, *wæhst, from Proto-West Germanic *wahstu, from Proto-Germanic *wahstuz (“growth, development, stature, build”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weg-s- (“to multiply, increase”). Cognate with Middle English wacste (“growth, increase, might, power”), Middle High German wahst (“growth”), Danish vækst (“growth”), Swedish växt (“growth, development, size”), Icelandic vöxtur (“growth”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌷𐍃𐍄𐌿𐍃 (wahstus, “growth”). Related to Old English weaxan (“to grow, increase”). More at wax.

cog

There he stood, very quietly overlooking some sailmakers who were mending a top-sail in the waist.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 18”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

(nautical) That part of the upper deck of a ship between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.


characteristic

/ˌkæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk/

[ˌkʰæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk]

General American, Mary–marry–merry merger

/ˌkɛɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk/

From Ancient Greek χαρακτηριστικός (kharaktēristikós), from χαρακτηρίζω (kharaktērízō, “to designate by a characteristic mark”), from χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “a mark, character”).

der

χαρακτηριστικός

(nautical) The distinguishing features of a navigational light on a lighthouse etc by which it can be identified (colour, pattern of flashes etc.).


sole

→ Hebrew: סוֹל (sol)

From Middle English sole, soole, from Old English sole, solu. Reinforced by Anglo-Norman sole, Old French sole, from Vulgar Latin *sola (“bottom of the shoe”, also “flatfish”), from Latin solea (“sandal, bottom of the shoe”), from Proto-Indo-European *swol- (“sole”). Cognate with Dutch zool (“sole, tread”), German Sohle (“sole, insole, bottom, floor”), Danish sål (“sole”), Icelandic sóli (“sole, outsole”), Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌻𐌾𐌰 (sulja, “sandal”). Related to Latin solum (“bottom, ground, soil”). More at soil.

cog

The rudder remains to be repaired, and is unshipped for the purpose; the sole of it is entirely gone

The bottom or lower part of anything, or that on which anything rests in standing.

(nautical) A piece of timber attached to the lower part of the rudder, to make it even with the false keel.

(nautical) The floor inside the cabin of a yacht or boat


poppet

After passing through the poppet valve, the impulse air and water flows through a poppet discharge stop valve and then through a discharge pipe to the poppet drain tank or bilge

(nautical) One of certain upright timbers on the bilge ways, used to support a vessel in launching.


mast

From Middle English mast, from Old English mæst (“mast”), from Proto-West Germanic *mast, from Proto-Germanic *mastaz (“mast, sail-pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *mazdos (“pole, mast”). Cognate with Dutch mast, German Mast, and via Indo-European with Latin mālus, Russian мо́ст (móst, “bridge”), Irish adhmad.

der

(nautical, communication, aviation) A tall, slim post or tower, usually tapering upward, used to support, for example, sails or observation platforms on a ship, the main rotor of a helicopter, flags, floodlights, meteorological instruments, or communications equipment, such as an aerial, usually supported by guy-wires (except in the case of a helicopter).


chop

en-verb

chop (third-person singular simple present chops, present participle chopping, simple past and past participle chopped)

chops (present singular third-person)
chopping (participle present)
chopped (participle past)
chopped (past)

Uncertain, perhaps a variant of chap (“cheap”). Compare Middle English copen (“to buy”), Dutch kopen (“to buy”).

The wind chops about.


bill

From Middle English bill, bille, bil, from Old English bil, bill (“a hooked point; curved weapon; two-edged sword”), from Proto-Germanic *bilją (“axe; sword; blade”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyH- (“to strike; beat”). Cognate with West Frisian bile (“axe”), Dutch bijl (“axe”), German Bille (“axe”).

der

l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand

(nautical) The extremity of the arm of an anchor; the point of or beyond the fluke (also called the peak).


mail

en-noun

mail (usually uncountable, plural mails)

From Middle English mayle (“mail armor”), borrowed from Old French maille (“loop, stitch”), from Vulgar Latin *macla, from Latin macula (“blemish, mesh”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *smh₁-tleh₂, from *smeh₁- (“smear, rub”).

thurak

armour consisting of metal rings or plates linked together

(nautical) A contrivance of interlinked rings, for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage.


belt

→ Afrikaans: belt

→ Assamese: বেল্ট (belto)

→ Bengali: বেল্ট (belṭo)

→ Dutch: belt

→ Hindi: बेल्ट (belṭ)

→ Irish: beilt

→ Japanese: ベルト (beruto)

→ Odia: ବେଲ୍ଟ୍ (belṭ)

→ Urdu: بیلٹ (belṭ)

→ Welsh: belt

From Middle English belt, from Old English belt (“belt, girdle”), from Proto-West Germanic *baltī̆, from Proto-Germanic *baltijaz (“girdle, belt”), from Latin balteus (“belt, sword-belt”), of Etruscan origin. Cognate with Scots belt (“belt”), Dutch belt, German Balz (“belt”), Danish bælte (“belt”), Swedish bälte (“belt, cincture, girdle, zone”) and Icelandic belti (“belt”).

cog

The battleship was protected by a twelve-inch belt just above the waterline.

(military, nautical) A band of armor along the sides of a warship, protecting the ship's vital spaces.


ship

→ Japanese: シップ (shippu)

From Middle English ship, schip, from Old English sċip, from Proto-West Germanic *skip, from Proto-Germanic *skipą, from Proto-Indo-European *skēyb-, *skib-. More at shift.
cognates
Cognate with West Frisian skip, Dutch schip, German Schiff, Yiddish שיף (shif), Danish skib, Norwegian skip, Swedish skepp. Related also to Lithuanian skiẽbti (“to rip up”), Latvian škibît (“to cut, lop”), Ancient Greek σκάφη (skáphē, “light boat, skiff”).

it's not the size of the ship, it's the motion of the ocean

(nautical) A water-borne vessel generally larger than a boat.

(archaic, nautical, formal) A sailing vessel with three or more square-rigged masts.


ship

en-verb

ship (third-person singular simple present ships, present participle shipping, simple past and past participle shipped)

ships (present singular third-person)
shipping (participle present)
shipped (participle past)
shipped (past)

From Middle English schippen, schipen, from Old English sċipian, from Proto-Germanic *skipōną, from Proto-Germanic *skipą (“ship”).

The timber was[…]shipped in the bay of Attalia, […]from whence it was by sea transported to Palusium.

1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:

One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.

2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:

(transitive) To send by water-borne transport.

མཚོ་ཐོག་སྐྱེལ་འདྲེན་བྱེད (mtsho thog skyel 'dren byed) (lit. to transport by means of the sea)

to ship the tiller or rudder

(transitive, nautical) To put or secure in its place.


sail

en-noun

sail (countable and uncountable, plural sails)

From Middle English saile, sayle, seil, seyl, from Old English seġl, from Proto-West Germanic *segl, from Proto-Germanic *seglą. Cognate with West Frisian seil, Low German Segel, Dutch zeil, German Segel, Danish sejl, Swedish segel.

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make lofty ships carry low sails

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make tall ships carry low sails

When we haue laught to ſee the ſailes conceiue / And grow big bellied with the wanton winde; […]

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

(nautical) A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination of mast, spars and ropes.

Take in sail: a storm is coming.

(nautical, uncountable) The concept of a sail or sails, as if a substance.

(nautical) The conning tower of a submarine.


wash

wash (countable and uncountable, plural washes)

From Middle English wasshen, waschen, weschen, from Old English wascan, from Proto-West Germanic *waskan, from Proto-Germanic *waskaną, *watskaną (“to wash, get wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“wet; water”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian waaske (“to wash”), West Frisian waskje (“to wash”), Dutch wassen, wasschen (“to wash”), Low German waschen (“to wash”), German waschen (“to wash”), Danish vaske (“to wash”), Norwegian Bokmål vaske (“to wash”), Swedish vaska (“to wash”), Icelandic vaska (“to wash”).


way

From Middle English way, wey, from Old English weġ, from Proto-West Germanic *weg, from Proto-Germanic *wegaz, from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-. Doublet of voe and possibly via.

don't let the door hit you on the way out

have one's head screwed on the right way

his driveway doesn't go all the way to the road

one's elevator doesn't go all the way to the top

the real treasure is the friends we made along the way

there's more than one way to cook an egg

there's more than one way to crack an egg

there's more than one way to peel an orange

the way to a man's heart is through his stomach

you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

Immediately afterwards, a quick and eager short dark man came into the room with so much way upon him that he was within a foot of Clennam before he could stop.

1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC:

Ten minutes into the run Tang slowed, Welch calling out her speed as she lost way.

1977, Richard O'Kane, Clear the Bridge: The War Patrols of the U.S.S. Tang, Ballantine Books, published 2003, page 343:

(nautical, uncountable) Speed, progress, momentum.


turn up

en-verb

turn up (third-person singular simple present turns up, present participle turning up, simple past and past participle turned up)

turns up (present singular third-person)
turning up (participle present)
turned up (participle past)
turned up (past)

Turn up the main halyard.

(transitive, nautical) To belay or make fast a line on a cleat or pin.


stand out

stand out (third-person singular simple present stands out, present participle standing out, simple past and past participle stood out)

stands out (present singular third-person)
standing out (participle present)
stood out (participle past)
stood out (past)

One morning in the early grey of the dawn we stood out to sea to troll for mackerel.

1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], translated by H. L. Brækstad, Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 181:

The next day the breeze freshened and the Ibis duly stood out to sea.

2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 23:

(intransitive, nautical) To sail in a direction away from shore.


berth

The noun is derived from Late Middle English birth (“(nautical) bearing away or off, clearance, berth”); further etymology uncertain, probably from beren (“to carry (away), bear”) + -th (suffix denoting a condition, quality, state of being, etc., forming nouns), Beren is derived from Old English beran (“to carry, hold, bear”), from Proto-West Germanic *beran (“to carry, bear”), from Proto-Germanic *beraną (“to carry, bear”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti (“to be carrying”), from *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”). If so, the English word is analysable as bear + -th (suffix forming nouns from verbs), and is a piecewise doublet of birth.
The verb is derived from the noun.

pelivara

(nautical) sufficient space in the water for a ship or other vessel to lie at anchor or manoeuvre; (figurative) sufficient room or space for manoeuvring or safety

Tho' vve vvere again got near our harbour by three in the afternoon, yet it ſeemed to require a full hour or more, before vve could come to our former place of anchoring, or birth, as the captain called it.

a. 1755 (date written), Henry Fielding, The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon, […], London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], published 1755, →OCLC, page 191:

"[…] She lays close to the Endymion, between her and the Cleopatra, just to the eastward of the sheer hulk." / "Ha!" cried William, "that's just where I should have put her myself. It's the best birth at Spithead.[…]"

1816 February 19, [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Mansfield Park: […], 2nd edition, volume III, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for J[ohn] Murray, […], →OCLC, page 151:

The voyage was a skilful and lucky one; and returning to her berth with her hold full of the precious sperm, the Amelia's example was soon followed by other ships, English and American, and thus the vast Sperm Whale grounds of the Pacific were thrown open.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Decanter”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, pages 493–494:

(nautical) Chiefly in wide berth: a sufficient space in the water for a ship or other vessel to lie at anchor or manoeuvre without getting in the way of other vessels, or colliding into rocks or the shore.

(by extension) A place for a vessel to lie at anchor or to moor.

корабно място

(nautical) place for a vessel to lie at anchor or to moor; (road transport) place for a vehicle on land to park

And vvhen he had ſhevvn me their birth (as he called it) I vvas filled vvith aſtoniſhment and horror.—VVe deſcended by divers ladders to a ſpace as dark as a dungeon, vvhich I underſtood vvas immerſed ſeveral feet under vvater, being immediately above the hold: I had no ſooner approached this diſmal gulph, than my noſe vvas ſaluted vvith an intolerable ſtench of putrified cheeſe, and rancid butter, […]

1748, [Tobias Smollett], “I am Reduced to Great Misery—Assaulted on Tower-hill by a Press-gang, who Put Me on Board a Tender—My Usage there—My Arrival on Board of the Thunder Man of War, […]”, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume I, London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […], →OCLC, page 226:

But not only was this the first day that Jack may be said to have appeared in the service, but it was the first day in which he had entered the midshipman's berth, and was made acquainted with his messmates.

1836, [Frederick Marryat], “Showing how Jack transgresses against his own philosophy”, in Mr. Midshipman Easy […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, pages 141–142:

(by extension) A room in a vessel in which the officers or company mess (“eat together”) and reside; also, a room or other place in a vessel for storage.

messi

room in a vessel in which the officers or company mess and reside; room or other place in a vessel for storage

Passengers their births are clapt in, / Some to grumble, some to spew. / 'Hey day! call you that a cabin? / Why 'tis hardly three feet square; / Not enough to stow Queen Mab in— / Who the deuce can harbour there?'

1809 June 30, Lord Byron, “Letter XXXVI. To Mr. Hodgson.”, in Thomas Moore, editor, Letters and Journals of Lord Byron: With Notices of His Life, […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], published 1830, →OCLC, stanza 3, page 191:

Just at this moment, in crossing the forecastle, one of the men saw a light below, and looking down the scuttle, saw the watch all out of their berths, and afoul of one poor fellow, dragging him out of his berth, and shaking him, to wake him out of a nightmare.

1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., chapter XXX, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC, page 367:

All dressed and dusty as he is, Jonah throws himself into his berth, and finds the little state-room ceiling almost resting on his forehead. […] The lamp alarms and frightens Jonah; as lying in his berth his tormented eyes roll round the place, and this thus far successful fugitive finds no refuge for his restless glance.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Sermon”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 48:

By what I then thought to be great good luck I had succeeded in getting a three-berth cabin for myself and my little boy alone—Nos. 45, 46, 47—on the starboard side of the ship.

1885 December, [Alice Kipling], “The Haunted Cabin”, in Quartette, the Christmas Annual of the Civil & Military Gazette, Lahore, British India: The “Civil and Military Gazette” Press, →OCLC, page 41:

(by extension) A place on a vessel to sleep, especially a bed on the side of a cabin.

He was now a temperate man for life, and capable of filling any berth in a ship, and many a high station there is on shore which is held by a meaner man.

1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., chapter XXIII, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC, page 247:

(by extension) A job or position on a vessel.

длъжност

(nautical) job or position on a vessel; (figurative) appointment, job, or position — see also appointment, job, position

[T]he Maſter-builders appoint the VVorking or Converting, as they call it, of every Piece of Timber, and give to the other Head-vvorkmen or Foremen, their Moulds for the ſquaring and cutting out of every Piece, and placing it in its proper Byrth (ſo they call it) in the Ship that is in Building; […]

1742, [Daniel Defoe], “Letter III. Containing a Description of the County of Kent, &c.”, in A Tour thro’ the Whole Island of Great Britain. […], 3rd edition, volume I, London: […] J[ohn] Osborn, […], →OCLC, pages 140–[141]:

(chiefly nautical, slang) A proper place for a thing.


berth

en-verb

berth (third-person singular simple present berths, present participle berthing, simple past and past participle berthed)

berths (present singular third-person)
berthing (participle present)
berthed (participle past)
berthed (past)

"The Henery," being let loose to drive up the river of herself, did run up as high as the bridge, and broke down some of the rails of the bridge, and so back again with the tide, and up again, and then berthed himself so well as no pilot could ever have done better; […]

1667 July 10 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “June 30th, 1667 (Lord’s Day)”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume VI, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1895, →OCLC, page 406:

Further west, in Pembrokeshire, the Esso Petroleum Co. refinery at Milford Haven, opened last November, is designed to berth the world's largest tankers and to process, initially, 4,500,000 tons of crude oil a year.

1961 August, “New Traffic Flows in South Wales”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 494:

(nautical) To bring (a ship or other vessel) into a berth (noun sense 1.1); also, to provide a berth for (a vessel).

(specifically, astronautics) To use a device to bring (a spacecraft) into its berth or dock.

акостирам

to bring (a ship or other vessel) into a berth; to provide a berth for (a vessel); to use a device to bring (a spacecraft) into its berth or dock

(reflexive, nautical) Of a vessel: to move into a berth.


aloft

en-adv

aloft (comparative more aloft, superlative most aloft)

more aloft (comparative)
most aloft (superlative)

From Old Norse á lopti (“in the sky”); equivalent to a- + loft.

I think you said something concerning the manner in which yonder ship has anchored, and of the condition they keep things alow and aloft?

1859, James Fenimore Cooper, The Red Rover: A Tale:

(nautical) In the top, at the masthead, or on the higher yards or rigging.

ylhäällä mastossa

in the top, at the masthead, or on the higher yards or rigging


hound

From Middle English hownde, hount, houn, probably from Old Norse húnn, from Proto-Germanic *hūnaz.

(nautical, in the plural) Projections at the masthead or foremast, serving as a support for the trestletrees and top to rest on; foretop


fathom

From Middle English fathome, fadom, fadme (“unit of length of about six feet; depth of six feet for nautical soundings; (loosely) cubit; ell”) [and other forms], from Old English fæþm, fæþme (“encircling or outstretched arms, bosom, embrace; envelopment; control, grasp, power; fathom (unit of measurement); cubit”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *faþm (“outstretched arms, embrace; fathom (unit of measurement)”), from Proto-Germanic *faþmaz (“outstretched arms, embrace; fathom (unit of measurement)”), from Proto-Indo-European *pet-, *peth₂- (“to spread out; to fly”).
cognates
* Ancient Greek πέταλος (pétalos, “broad; flat”), πετᾰ́ννῡμῐ (petánnūmi, “to open; to spread out; to be dispersed or scattered”) (whence English petal)
* Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌸𐌰 (faþa, “fench; hedge”)
* Latin pateō (“to extend, increase; to be accessible, attainable, open; to be exposed, vulnerable”)
* Low German fadem, faem (“cubit; thread”)
* Middle Dutch vadem (modern Dutch vaam, vadem (“fathom”))
* Norwegian Bokmål favn (“an embrace; a fathom”)
* Old Frisian fethm (“outstretched arms”)
* Old High German fadam, fadum (“cubit”) (Middle High German vade (“enclosure”), vadem, vaden, modern German Faden (“fathom; filament, thread”))
* Old Norse faþmr (Danish favn (“an embrace; a fathom”), Icelandic faðmur (“an embrace”), Swedish famn (“the arms, bosom; an embrace”))
* Old Welsh etem (“thread”)

nb...

fadam, fadame, fademe, fadim, fadmen, fadome, fadum, fadym, fathem, fathme, fathum, fedme, fethme, feþme, (Southern England) vathym, vedme, vetheym, vethym, veðme, veþum

cog

[T]he ſhipmen deemed that they drew neere to ſome countrey: And ſounded, and found it twentie fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they ſounded againe, and found it fifteene fathoms.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 27:27–28, column 2:

Full fadom fiue thy Father lies,
Of his bones are Corrall made:
Those are pearles that were his eies,
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a Sea-change
Into someting rich, & strange

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 5, column 1:

(chiefly nautical, historical, US) A man's armspan, generally reckoned to be six feet (about 1.8 metres). Later used to measure the depth of water, but now generally replaced by the metre outside American usage.

dupa

measure of six feet — see also brace, toise

After we'd rowed for an hour, we found ourselves stranded ten fathoms from shore.

At fifty fathoms, the waters of the Southern Ocean are dark blue.

1983, Richard Ellis, “The Predators”, in The Book of Sharks, 1st paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, published 1989, →ISBN, page 7:

(nautical, US) A measure of distance to shore: the nearest point to shore at which the water depth is the value quoted.


mate

From Middle English mate, a borrowing from Middle Low German mate (“messmate”) (replacing Middle English mette (“table companion, mate, partner”), from Old English ġemetta (“sharer of food, table-guest”)), derived from Proto-Germanic *gamatjô, itself from *ga- (“together”) (related to German and Dutch ge-) + *matjô (from *matiz (“food”)), related to Old English mete (“food”)). From the same Middle Low German source stems German Low German Maat (“journeyman, companion”), German Maat (“naval non-commissioned officer”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian Moat (“friend, buddy, comrade, mate”), Dutch maat (“mate, partner, colleague, friend”). More at Old English ġe-, English co-, English meat. Doublet of maat.

non-commissioned officer
non-commissioned officer

(nautical) In naval ranks, a non-commissioned officer or his subordinate (e.g. Boatswain's Mate, Gunner's Mate, Sailmaker's Mate, etc).

matruusi

nautical: NCO or his subordinate in naval ranks

(nautical) A ship's officer, subordinate to the master on a commercial ship.

помощник-капитан

nautical: ship's officer on commercial vessel


plane

en-verb

plane (third-person singular simple present planes, present participle planing, simple past and past participle planed)

planes (present singular third-person)
planing (participle present)
planed (participle past)
planed (past)

(nautical, of a boat) To move in a way that lifts the bow out of the water.

глисирам

to move in a way that lifts the bow of a boat out of the water


bow

From Middle English bowe, from Old English boga, Proto-West Germanic *bogō, from Proto-Germanic *bugô.
Cognate with West Frisian boge, Dutch boog, German Bogen, Swedish båge.

strykstok

rod used for playing stringed instruments

(nautical) A crude sort of quadrant formerly used for taking the sun's altitude at sea.


bow

PIE word
 *bʰeh₂ǵʰús
From Middle English bowe, bowgh, a borrowing from Middle Low German bôch and/or Middle Dutch boech, from Proto-Germanic *bōguz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵʰus (“arm”). Cognate with Dutch boeg (“bow”), Danish bov (“bow”), Swedish bog (“bow”). Doublet of bough.

The night was considerably clearer than anybody on board her desired when the schooner Ventura headed for the land. It rose in places, black and sharp against the velvety indigo, over her dipping bow, though most of the low littoral was wrapped in obscurity.

1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 6, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:


Moses

From Latin Mōsēs, Mōȳsēs, from Ancient Greek Μωυσῆς (Mōusês), from Biblical Hebrew מֹשֶׁה (mōšê). Further etymology is unclear, but it is sometimes conjectured to derive from Egyptian ms-s (msj, “to give birth to”), a common element in Egyptian names of the form ‘[name of deity] is the one who bore him’; or, alternatively, contains Egyptian N35A (mw, “water”).

der

<i class="Latn mention" lang="egy">msj</i>

<i class="Latn mention" lang="egy">mw</i>

And the Lord came downe vpon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moſes vp to the top of the mount, and Moſes went vp.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 19:20, column 1:

Moses supposes his toeses are roses, / But Moses supposes erroneously, / Moses he knowses his toeses aren't roses, / As Moses supposes his toeses to be!

1952 Singin' in the Rain: Moses supposes (a song)

(biblical) The pharaonic patriarch who led the enslaved Hebrews out of Egypt, the brother of Aaron and Miriam described in the Book of Exodus and the Quran.

A surname transferred from the given name.

A dialect of the Columbia-Wenatchi language

(US, African American culture) pseudonym for Harriet Tubman


gauntlet

From Middle English gauntelett, gantlett, a borrowing from Old French gantelet (“gauntlet worn by a knight in armor, a token of one's personality or person, and symbolizing a challenge”), diminutive of gant (“glove”), a borrowing from Frankish *want (“glove; mitten”) and reinforced by Medieval Latin wantus (“glove”) itself borrowed from the former, from Proto-Germanic *wantuz (“glove; mitten”). Cognate with Dutch want (“mitten; shroud”), German Low German Want (“shroud”), Danish vante (“mitten”), Swedish vante (“glove; mitten”), Faroese vøttur (“glove; mitten”).

(nautical) A rope on which hammocks or clothes are hung for drying.


yaw

Unknown, first attested in the mid-16th century. Perhaps related to yar (“quick, agile”), or alternatively from Old Norse jaga (“to chase, drive, move back and forth”), from Middle Low German jagen (“to hunt, chase, pursue”), from Old Saxon *jagōn, from Proto-West Germanic *jagōn, from Proto-Germanic *jakkōną (“to hunt”).

you're (some non-rhotic accents, especially with the pour–poor merger)

(nautical) A vessel's motion rotating about the vertical axis, so the bow yaws from side to side; a characteristic of unsteadiness.


yaw

en-verb

yaw (third-person singular simple present yaws, present participle yawing, simple past and past participle yawed)

yaws (present singular third-person)
yawing (participle present)
yawed (participle past)
yawed (past)

(intransitive, nautical) To swerve off course to port or starboard.

měnit kurs

Just as he would lay the ship's course, all yawing being out of the question.

1853–1864, James Russell Lowell, “(please specify the page)”, in Fireside Travels, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1864, →OCLC:

(intransitive, nautical) To steer badly, zigzagging back and forth across the intended course of a boat; to go out of the line of course.


well

From Middle English welle, from Old English wielle (“well”), from Proto-West Germanic *wallijā, from Proto-Germanic *wallijǭ (“well, swirl, wave”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn; wind; roll”).
Cognate with West Frisian wel (“well”), Dutch wel (“well”), German Low German Well (“well”), German Welle (“wave”), Danish væld (“well; spring”), Swedish väl (“well”), Icelandic vella (“boiling; bubbling; eruption”).

cog

the jug goes to the well until it breaks

the pitcher goes so often to the well that it is broken at last

you don't miss the water till the well runs dry

you never miss the water till the well runs dry

you never miss the water until the well runs dry

(nautical) A vertical, cylindrical trunk in a ship, reaching down to the lowest part of the hull, through which the bilge pumps operate.

(nautical) A compartment in the middle of the hold of a fishing vessel, made tight at the sides, but having holes perforated in the bottom to let in water to keep fish alive while they are transported to market.

sumppu

nautical: compartment in the middle of the hold of a fishing vessel to keep fish alive

(nautical) A vertical passage in the stern into which an auxiliary screw propeller may be drawn up out of the water.


liar

From Middle English lier, liere, lyere, liȝer, lieȝer, legher, from Old English lēgere, lēogere (“liar, false witness, hypocrite”), from Proto-West Germanic *leugārī, from Proto-Germanic *leugārijaz (“liar”), from *leuganą (“to lie”) + *-ārijaz, equivalent to lie + -ar. More at lie.

The Swabber is to keep the Cabbins, and all the Rooms of the Ship clean within board, and the Liar to do the like without board. The Liar holds his Place but for a week; and he that is first taken with a Lie upon a Monday morning, […] for that week he is under the Swabber, and meddles not with making clean the Ship within board, but without.

1703, Sir William Monson, Sir William Monson's Naval Tracts in Six Books, page 348:

The swabber, perhaps the lowliest position on the ship, was responsible for cleaning the decks. By tradition, each Monday a new crewmember was appointed the liar—the first person caught telling a lie the previous week.

2005, Caleb H. Johnson, The Mayflower and Her Passengers, page 35:

(nautical, obsolete) A swabber responsible for cleaning the outside parts of the ship rather than the cabins, a role traditionally assigned to a person caught telling a lie the previous week.


bracket

From earlier bragget, *bracket, from Middle English *braget, *braket (attested in braket nail), from Old French braguette (“the opening in the fore part of a pair of breeches, one's fly”), a diminutive of Old French brague (“knickers, britches”), from Old Occitan braga, from Latin brāca (“pants”), from Transalpine Gaulish *brāca, from Proto-Germanic *brāks, an early form of Proto-Germanic *brōks (“leggings, breeches, trousers”).

kllapë

generically any of “(”, “)”, “[”, “]”, “{”, “}”, “⟨”, “⟩”, “<”, “>”, etc.

(nautical) A short crooked timber, resembling a knee, used as a support.


club

en-verb

club (third-person singular simple present clubs, present participle clubbing, simple past and past participle clubbed)

clubs (present singular third-person)
clubbing (participle present)
clubbed (participle past)
clubbed (past)

From Middle English clubbe, from Old Norse klubba, klumba (“cudgel”), from Proto-Germanic *klumpô (“clip, clasp; clump, lump; log, block”). Cognate with English clump, cloud, Latin globus, glomus; and perhaps related to Middle Low German kolve (“bulb”), German Kolben (“butt, bulb, club”).

der

(nautical) To drift in a current with an anchor out.


check

en-verb

check (third-person singular simple present checks, present participle checking, simple past and past participle checked)

checks (present singular third-person)
checking (participle present)
checked (participle past)
checked (past)

→ Brazilian Portuguese: checar

→ Cantonese: check

→ Finnish: tsekata

→ German: checken

→ Gulf Arabic: چيك (čayyak)

→ Hijazi Arabic: شَيَّك (šayyak)

→ Hungarian: csekkol

→ Russian: че́кать (čékatʹ)

→ Russian: че́кнуть (čéknutʹ)

→ Russian: проче́кать (pročékatʹ)

→ Spanish: chequear, checar (Mexico)

From Middle English chekken, partly from Old French eschequier and partly from the noun (see above).

check yourself before you wreck yourself

(nautical) To slack or ease off, as a brace which is too stiffly extended.


buccaneer

From French boucanier, from boucaner (“to smoke or broil meat and fish, to hunt wild beasts for their skins”), from boucan (“(Tupi-style) grill”), from Old Tupi moka'ẽ, mboka'ẽ (“wooden grill”).

der

“Heard of him!” cried the squire. “Heard of him, you say! He was the bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed.[…]”

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part I (The Old Buccaneer), page 48:

(nautical) Any of a group of seamen who cruised on their own account on the Spanish Main and in the Pacific in the 17th century, who were similar to pirates but did not prey on ships of their own nation.


compass swing

This advisory circular (AC) describes procedures for calibrating an aircraft magnetic compass to minimize the effect of aircraft-induced magnetic fields. These procedures are often referred to as “swinging the compass” or a “compass swing.”

2017, Federal Aviation Administration, “Standardized Procedures for Performing Aircraft Magnetic Compass Calibration”, in Advisory Circular, numbers 43-215, page 1:

(nautical) The process of swinging and compensating a ship or aircraft compass by determining and reducing the deviation coefficients and recording the residual deviations; now done by computer.


course

→ Gulf Arabic: كورس (kōrs)

From Middle English cours, from Old French cours, from Latin cursus (“course of a race”), from currō (“run”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”). Doublet of cursus and cour.

polku

the course of true love never did run smooth

The ship changed its course 15 degrees towards south.

A path that something or someone moves along.

(nautical) The direction of movement of a vessel at any given moment.

курс

nautical: direction of movement of a vessel

Main course and mainsail are the same thing in a sailing ship.

(nautical) The lowest square sail in a fully rigged mast, often named according to the mast.

undersejl

lowest square sail in a fully rigged mast — see also mainsail


lug

en-verb

lug (third-person singular simple present lugs, present participle lugging, simple past and past participle lugged)

lugs (present singular third-person)
lugging (participle present)
lugged (participle past)
lugged (past)

From Middle English luggen, possibly from Scandinavian source, (compare Swedish lugga, Norwegian lugge); also in English dialectal as lig (“to lug”). Noun is via Scots lugge, probably from Old Norse (compare Norwegian and Swedish lugg). Probably related to slug (“lazy, slow-moving”), which may be from similar source(s). See slow.

(transitive, nautical) To carry an excessive amount of sail for the conditions prevailing.


lug

From Middle English lugge (“pole, stick, staff”).


mule

→ Hawaiian: miula

→ Irish: miúil

→ Maori: miūru

From Middle English mule, from Anglo-Norman mule and Old English mūl, both from Latin mūlus, from Proto-Indo-European *mukslós. Compare Late Latin muscellus (“young he-mule”), Old East Slavic мъшкъ (mŭškŭ, “mule”), Ancient Greek (Phocian) μυχλός (mukhlós, “he-ass”), and German Maul Maultier, Maulesel (through Latin).

In heavier seas where a boat must sail a course dictated by waves, or where wave action makes power more important than pointing, the mule will prove the faster sail.

(sailing) A kind of triangular sail for a yacht.


magazine

→ Burmese: မဂ္ဂဇင်း (magga.jang:)

→ Cebuano: magasin

→ Dutch: magazine

→ French: magazine

→ Portuguese: magazine

→ Italian: magazine

→ Gujarati: મેગેઝિન (megejhin)

→ Hebrew: מגזין (magazin)

→ Japanese: マガジン (magajin)

desc

→ Kashubian: magazina (Canada, United States,)

→ Shan: မႅၵ်ႈၵၸိၼ်း (mēk kǎ tsín)

→ Shan: မႅၵ်ႈၵၸိၼ်း (mēk kǎ tsín)

→ Spanish: magacín

→ Turkish: magazin

→ Malay: magazin

From Middle English magasyne, from Middle French magasin (“warehouse, store”), from Italian magazzino (“storehouse”), ultimately from Arabic مَخَازِن pl (maḵāzin), plural of مَخْزَن (maḵzan, “storeroom, storehouse”), noun of place from خَزَنَ (ḵazana, “to store, to stock, to lay up”).

der

The cruiser blew up when a shell hit its magazine.

Juneau was making good time with the other surviving U.S. Navy ships, despite her damage, when the I-26 spotted her and sent a salvo of Type 95 torpedoes in her direction. Passing between the Helena and San Francisco, some indication being they had actually been shot at the San Francisco and gone long because San Francisco was travelling significantly slower than expected, they nonetheless hit Juneau and detonated the ship's magazine.

2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 28:10 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-11-07:

(nautical) The portion of a warship where munitions are stored.


cross

en-adj

cross (comparative crosser, superlative crossest)

crosser (comparative)
crossest (superlative)

From Middle English cross, cros, from Old English cros (“rood, cross”), perhaps from Old Irish cros (compare Welsh croes, Irish crois), perhaps from Latin crux (cruci). In this sense displaced native Middle English rood, from Old English rōd; see rood.
The sense of "two intersecting lines drawn or cut on a surface; two lines intersecting at right angles" without regard to religious signification develops from the late 14th century.
cognates
*Old Norse kross (“cross”)
*Icelandic kross (“cross”)
*Faroese krossur (“cross”)
*Danish kors (“cross”)
*Swedish kors (“cross”)
*German Kreuz (“cross”)
*Dutch kruis (“cross”)

As my father remarked to me when I stole on deck to view the state of affairs, the sea was a "cross one," and very difficult to steer against.

1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 15:

(nautical) Of the sea, having two wave systems traveling at oblique angles, due to the wind over shifting direction or the waves of two storm systems meeting.


skin

en-noun

skin (countable and uncountable, plural skins)

From Middle English skyn, skinn, from Old English scinn, from Old Norse skinn (“animal hide”), from Proto-Germanic *skinþą, from Proto-Indo-European *sken- (“to split off”), nasal variant of *skeh₁i-d- (“to cut”).
See also Dutch schinde (“bark”), dialectal German Schinde (“fruit peel”); also Breton skant (“scales”), Old Irish ceinn, Irish scainim (“I tear, burst”), Latin scindere (“to split, divide”), Sanskrit छिनत्ति (chinátti, “he splits”). Partially displaced native Old English hȳd (“skin, hide”), see hide. More at shed. Not related to shin.

peel

outer protective layer of a plant or animal

congealed layer on the surface of a liquid

don't sell the skin till you have caught the bear

The skin of the sail is made of stretch-resistant Mylar

(Can we date this quote?), “Textile Technology Digest”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(nautical) That part of a sail, when furled, which remains on the outside and covers the whole.

(nautical) The covering, as of planking or iron plates, outside the framing, forming the sides and bottom of a vessel; the shell; also, a lining inside the framing.


carry

en-verb

carry (third-person singular simple present carries, present participle carrying, simple past and past participle carried)

carries (present singular third-person)
carrying (participle present)
carried (participle past)
carried (past)

borrow

the equivalent reverse procedure in the inverse operation of subtraction

→ Cantonese: carry

From Middle English carrien, from Anglo-Norman carier (modern French charrier); from a derivative of Latin carrus (“four-wheeled baggage wagon”), ultimately of Gaulish origin.

tīhei

on the back but held in place with hands

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make lofty ships carry low sails

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make tall ships carry low sails

one can't carry two watermelons under one arm

(transitive, nautical) To capture a ship by coming alongside and boarding.


watch

As a noun, from Middle English wacche, from Old English wæċċe. See below for verb form.

(nautical) A group of sailors and officers aboard a ship or shore station with a common period of duty: starboard watch, port watch.

(nautical) A period of time on duty, usually four hours in length; the officers and crew who tend the working of a vessel during the same watch. (FM 55–501).


watch

en-verb

watch (third-person singular simple present watches, present participle watching, simple past and past participle watched)

watches (present singular third-person)
watching (participle present)
watched (participle past)
watched (past)

From Middle English wacchen, from Old English wæċċan, from Proto-West Germanic *wakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *wakjaną.

(nautical, of a buoy) To serve the purpose of a watchman by floating properly in its place.


jaw

From Middle English jowe~joue~jaue, seemingly borrowed from Old French jowe~joue~joe, itself from Vulgar Latin *gauta.
The OED argues that, since Chaucer rhymed jowe with clowe (“claw”), the tonic vowel was not /uː/ and so jowe does not correspond to the French word. (On the other hand, it raises no such objection against the derivation of paw from Old French powe~poue~poe, from *pauta.) It is not clear that Middle English ever borrowed an Old French word in which /ɔw/ had already turned to /u/. If the normal modern English outcome is taken to be the /əʊ/ of clove, escrow, hoe, mow, and soldier (implying a Middle English /ɔw/), then the /ɔː/ of jaw and paw (implying a Middle English /aw/) may be explained as the result of either borrowing from Middle English dialects that merged /ɔw/ into /aw/ or blending with semantically adjacent words like chaule (“jaw”) and clawe (“claw”).
The OED, with reluctance, offers the theory that the original Middle English form could have been an unattested *chowe, from an also-unattested Old English *ċēowe (from Proto-West Germanic *keuwā). /t͡ʃ-/ > /d͡ʒ-/ is not unheard-of; cf. jam, jar, jarm, jitter, and jowl. The OED also note that a variant chaw is in fact documented in English, but only from 1530 onward, some 150 years after the j- forms.

(nautical) The inner end of a boom or gaff, hollowed in a half circle so as to move freely on a mast.


antenna

From Latin antenna, antemna (“yard, sailyard; pole”). First used in this sense as a Latin word in the 15th century and as an English word by the end of the 17th century.

bor

(nautical) The spar to which a lateen sail is attached, which is then hoisted up the mast.


cant

From Middle English cant (“edge, brink”), from Middle Dutch cant (“point, side, edge”) (Modern Dutch kant (“side, edge”)), ultimately of Celtic or Latin origin. Related to Medieval Latin cantus (“corner, side”), from Latin canthus.

Homophone: Kant (in anglicized pronunciation)

(nautical) A piece of wood laid upon the deck of a vessel to support the bulkheads.


cot

Borrowed from Hindi खाट (khāṭ), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀔𑀝𑁆𑀝𑀸 (khaṭṭā), from Sanskrit खट्वा (khaṭvā, “bedstead”).

(nautical, historical) A wooden bed frame, slung by its corners from a beam, in which officers slept before the introduction of bunks.


bar

en-noun

bar (countable and uncountable, plural bars)

→ Albanian: bar m

→ Arabic: بَار m (bār)

→ Armenian: բար (bar)

→ Bulgarian: бар (bar)

→ Burmese: ဘား (bha:)

→ Chichewa: bála

→ Cantonese: 吧 (baa¹)

→ Czech: bar m

→ Danish: bar c

→ Dutch: bar m

→ Esperanto: baro

→ Estonian: baar

→ French: bar m
→ Romanian: bar

→ Galician: bar m

→ Georgian: ბარი (bari)

→ German: Bar f

→ Greek: μπαρ n (bar)

→ Gulf Arabic: بار (bār)

→ Hebrew: בָּר (bar), בָּאר (bár)

→ Hungarian: bár (also via German)

→ Icelandic: bar m

→ Irish: beár m

→ Italian: bar m

→ Japanese: バー (bā)

→ Khmer: បារ (baa)

→ Korean: 바 (ba)

→ Lithuanian: bãras m

→ Macedonian: бар m (bar)

→ Malagasy: ba

→ Mandarin: 吧 (bā)

→ Norwegian:

Bokmål: bar m

Nynorsk: bar m

→ Persian: بار (bâr)

→ Polish: bar m

→ Portuguese: bar m

→ Russian: бар m (bar)

→ Serbo-Croatian: ба̑р m, bȃr m

→ Slovene: bȃr m

→ Spanish: bar m

→ Swahili: baa

→ Swedish: bar c (see there for further descendants)

→ Thai: บาร์ (baa)

→ Turkish: bar

→ Xhosa: íbhári

→ Zulu: ibha

From Middle English barre, from Old French barre (“beam, bar, gate, barrier”), from Vulgar Latin *barra, of uncertain origin. Doublet of barre.

der

(geography, nautical, hydrology) A ridge or succession of ridges of sand or other substance; especially:

Travellers change at Batoum into a steamer which performs the service between that port and Poti, and which has a less draught of water to enable it to cross the bar of the river Rion.

1868, “Route 20: London to Tiflis […] ”, in Handbook for Travellers in Russia, Poland, and Finland, 2nd edition, London: John Murray, page 320:

en:geographic or hydrologic ridge
en:shoal such as sandbank

A linear shoaling landform feature within a body of water; a formation extending across the mouth of a river or harbor or off a beach, and which may obstruct navigation. (FM 55-501).


service

en-noun

service (countable and uncountable, plural services)

From Middle English servise, from Old French servise (French service), from the verb servir, from Latin servitium (compare Portuguese serviço, Italian servizio, Norman sèrvice, Spanish servicio), from servus (“servant; serf; slave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo-s (“guardian”), possibly from *ser- (“watch over, protect”). Displaced native Old English þeġnung.

(nautical) The materials used for serving a rope, etc., such as spun yarn and small lines.

tarvikkeet

nautical: materials used for serving a rope


INS

(India, military, nautical) Initialism of Indian Naval Ship.


datum

datum (plural (senses 1–3) data or (senses 1 and 4–5) datums)

Borrowed from Latin datum (“a given”). Doublet of die.

(nautical) A floating reference point, or SLDMB, used to evaluate surface currents in a body of water. Often employed by coastal search and rescue.


slip

From Middle English slippen, probably from Middle Low German slippen. Possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *slewbʰ- (“slip, slide”), or related to Proto-Germanic *slībaną (“to split”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian slipje (“to slip”), Dutch slippen (“to slip”), German Low German slippen, slupen (“to slip”), German schlüpfen (“to slip”).

der

there's many a slip between the cup and the lip

there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip

(nautical) A berth; a space for a ship to moor.

(nautical) A difference between the theoretical distance traveled per revolution of the propeller and the actual advance of the vessel.

jättämä

nautical: difference between theoretical and actual advance of a vessel


pirate

→ Niuean: pairēti

From Old French pirate, from Latin pīrāta, from Ancient Greek πειρατής (peiratḗs), from πεῖρα (peîra, “trial, attempt, plot”). Displaced native Old English wīċing, which was the word for both "pirate" and "viking".

You should be cautious due to the Somali pirates.

(crime) A criminal who plunders at sea; commonly attacking merchant vessels, though often pillaging port towns.


dreadnought

Named after HMS Dreadnought, the first battleship finished of this type, itself named for Etymology 2.

Perturbed at being overtaken, the USS Texas is leading the 6th Battle Squadron at 22-and-a-half knots as the engineers pour everything they have into the effort. Behind the colossal clouds of smoke and cinders they put out come a seemingly-endless stream of dreadnoughts, battle flags flying from every mast and line they can find. It is the Grand Fleet.

2018 October 17, Drachinifel, 18:32 from the start, in Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet - Battle of Texel 1918, archived from the original on 2022-08-04:

(military, nautical, historical) A battleship, especially of the World War I era, in which most of the firepower is concentrated in large guns that are of the same caliber.

Sovereign is the flagship of the rogue Spectre Saren. An enormous dreadnought larger than any other ship in any known fleet, Sovereign is crewed with both geth and krogan. At two kilometers long, its spinal-mounted main gun is likely capable of penetrating another dreadnought's kinetic barriers with a single shot.

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Sovereign Codex entry:

(informal) Any type of warship heavier in armour or armament than a typical battleship.

"Much obliged to you, ma'am!" says Mr. Guppy, divesting himself of his wet dreadnought in the hall.

1853, Charles Dickens, chapter 7, in Bleak House:

(by extension) One that is the largest or the most powerful of its kind.

A garment made of thick woollen cloth that can defend against storm and cold.


wheel

we'll (one pronunciation along with the wine–whine merger)

From Middle English whel, from Old English hwēol, from Proto-West Germanic *hwehwl, from Proto-Germanic *hwehwlą, *hweulō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷekʷlóm, *kʷékʷlos, *kʷékʷléh₂, reduplication of *kʷel- (“to turn”) and a suffix (literally "(the thing that) turns and turns." See also West Frisian tsjil, Dutch wiel, Danish hjul; also Tocharian B kokale (“cart, wagon”), Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “cycle, wheel”), Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬑𐬭𐬀 (caxra), Sanskrit चक्र (cakrá)); and Latin colō (“to till, cultivate”), Tocharian A and Tocharian B käl- (“to bear; bring”), Ancient Greek πέλω (pélō, “to come into existence, become”), Old Church Slavonic коло (kolo, “wheel”), Albanian sjell (“to bring, carry, turn around”), Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (caraⁱti, “it circulates”), Sanskrit चरति (cárati, “it moves, wanders”)). Doublet of chakra, chakram, charkha, chukker, cycle, and cyclus.

агьежь

a circular device facilitating movement or transportation

peix gros

person with a great deal of power or influence

I hear the noise about thy keel;
I hear the bell struck in the night:
I see the cabin-window bright;
I see the sailor at the wheel.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto X:

A circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines.

(nautical) The instrument attached to the rudder by which a vessel is steered.


main

From Middle English mayn, main, maine, mæin, meyn, from main (noun) (see further at etymology 2); compare Old English mægen- (“strong, main, principal”) (used in combination) and Old Norse megn, megenn (“strong, main”).
The word is cognate with Old High German megīn (“strong, mighty”) (modern German Möge, Vermögen (“power, wealth”)), and also akin to Old English magan (“to be able to”). See also may.

cog

(nautical) Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.


main

From Middle English mayn, main, maine, mæine, mæȝen, from Old English mæġen (“strength”), from Proto-Germanic *maginą (“strength, power, might”), *maginaz (“strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ- (“be able”).
The word is cognate with Old High German magen, megin, Old Norse magn, megn, megin, Old Saxon megin. More recent senses are derived from the adjective.


tartan

en-noun

tartan (countable and uncountable, plural tartans)

→ Catalan: tartà

→ Scottish Gaelic: tartan

Blend of Middle English tartaryn (“rich material”), from Middle French tartarin (“Tartar cloth”), and Middle French tiretaine (“cloth of mixed fibers”), from Old French tiret (“kind of cloth”), from tire (“oriental cloth of silk”), from Medieval Latin tyrius (“material from Tyre”), from Latin Tyrus (“Tyre”).

der

A kind of woven woolen cloth with a distinctive pattern of colored stripes intersecting at right angles, associated with Scottish Highlanders, different clans and some Scottish families and institutions having their own distinctive patterns.

tartà

woollen cloth with a distinctive pattern


monkey

en-noun

monkey (plural monkeys or (obsolete) monkies)

monkeys (plural)
monkies (obsolete plural)

→ Chukchi: маӈкы (maṇky)

→ Coeur d'Alene: moonki

→ Irish: moncaí

→ Navajo: mágí

→ Scottish Gaelic: muncaidh

→ Tumbuka: munkhwele

→ Welsh: mwnci

Uncertain. May be derived from monk + -ey (diminutive suffix), or borrowed from Middle Low German Moneke, the name of the son of Martin the Ape in Reynard the Fox (which may represent an unattested colloquial Middle Low German *moneke, *moneken), itself of uncertain origin. Possibly derived from a Romance term represented by Late Middle French monne (whence Modern French mone (“monkey”)) or earlier Old French monnekin (“monkey”), originally Monnekin, the name of a monkey in Li Dis d'Entendement. Compare also Old French and Middle French monin (“monkey”). The French terms may have been borrowed from Italian monna (“monkey”), from Old Spanish mona (“female monkey”), itself a shortening of mamona, variant of maimón, from Arabic مَيْمُون (maymūn, “baboon”)). However, Old French monnekin may alternatively be unrelated to the other terms, instead being a borrowing of Early Middle Dutch mannekin (a diminutive of a personal name or surname; hence, nickname, literally “miniature man”).

gl

whence Modern French <i class="Latn mention" lang="fr">mone</i> (“monkey”)

der

cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

you can take the monkey out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the monkey

(slang, nautical) The vessel in which a mess receives its full allowance of grog.


rope

en-noun

rope (countable and uncountable, plural ropes)

→ Irish: rópa

Tok Pisin: rop

From Middle English rop, rope, from Old English rāp (“rope, cord, cable”), from Proto-West Germanic *raip, from Proto-Germanic *raipaz, *raipą (“rope, cord, band, ringlet”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁roypnós (“strap, band, rope”), from *h₁reyp- (“to peel off, tear; border, edge, strip”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots rape, raip (“rope”), Saterland Frisian Roop (“rope”), West Frisian reap (“rope, cord”), Dutch roop, reep (“rope, cord, ring, strip, bar”), German Low German Reep (“rope”), Swedish rep (“rope”), Danish reb (“rope”), Icelandic reipi (“rope”), Albanian rrip (“belt, rope”).

der

give him enough rope and he'll hang himself

you'd complain if you were hung with a new rope

(nautical) Cordage of at least 1 inch in diameter, or a length of such cordage.


log

From Middle English logg, logge (first recorded in Anglo-Latin as loggum), of uncertain origin, but probably from Old Norse lóg, lág (“felled tree, log”), derived from Old Norse liggja (“to lie”). If so, then cognate with Norwegian låg (“fallen tree”), Dutch loog (“wood, timber, lumber”).
Alternatively, directly from Norwegian låg (“fallen tree”), which could have been borrowed through the Norwegian timber trade. However the Old Norse/Middle Norwegian vowel is long while Middle English vowel is short.

1659, Navigation by the Mariners Plain Scale New Plain'd, by John Collins
Every Noon the Master and his Mates take the reckoning off the Log-board, and double the Knots run, and then divide the Product, which is the number of Miles run by three, the quotient is the Leagues run since the former Noon, and according to custom the Log is thrown every two hours, and I never knew the course nearer expressed on the Log-board, then to half a point of the Compass.

(nautical) A floating device, usually of wood, used in navigation to estimate the speed of a vessel through water.

лаг

nautical: device for measuring the speed of a vessel


traveller

From Middle English traveler, travelour, travailere, travailour (“worker", also "traveller”), equivalent to travel + -er. Compare Anglo-Norman travailur, travailour, Old French travailleor, travelleeur, travelier.

(nautical) A metal ring that moves freely on part of a ship’s rigging.


truck

en-noun

truck (countable and uncountable, plural trucks)

Belizean Creole: chrok

→ Bengali: ট্রাক (ṭrak)

→ Bislama: trak

→ Cebuano: trak

→ French: truck

→ Hindi: ट्रक (ṭrak)

→ Indonesian: truk

→ Japanese: トラック (torakku)

→ Korean: 트럭 (teureok)

→ Maguindanao: trak

→ Malay: trak

desctree

→ Spanish: troca
→ Southeastern Tepehuan: trooka

→ Polish: trak

→ Tagalog: trak

→ Taos: tròkiʼína

→ Tausug: tarak

→ Tok Pisin: trak

→ Urdu: ٹْرَک (ṭrak)

Perhaps a shortening of truckle, related to Latin trochus (“iron hoop, wheel”) from Ancient Greek τροχός (trokhós).

But oh! shipmates! on the starboard hand of every woe, there is a sure delight; and higher the top of that delight, than the bottom of the woe is deep. Is not the main-truck higher than the kelson is low?

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “'”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

(nautical) On a wooden mast, a circular disc (or sometimes a rectangle) of wood near or at the top of the mast, usually with holes or sheaves to reeve signal halyards; also a temporary or emergency place for a lookout. "Main" refers to the mainmast, whereas a truck on another mast may be called (on the mizzenmast, for example) "mizzen-truck".

märssy

nautical: disc or rectangle of wood near or at the top of the mast


flag

en-noun

flag (countable and uncountable, plural flags)

From Middle English flag, flagge (“flag”), further etymology uncertain. Perhaps from or related to early Middle English flage (name for a baby's garment) and Old English flagg, flacg (“cataplasm, poultice, plaster”). Or, perhaps ultimately imitative, or otherwise drawn from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”), referring to the shape.
Germanic cognates include Saterland Frisian Flaage (“flag”), West Frisian flagge (“flag”), Dutch vlag (“flag”), German Flagge (“flag”), Swedish flagga (“flag”), Danish flag (“flag, ship's flag”). Compare also Middle English flacken (“to flutter, palpitate”), Swedish dialectal flage (“to flutter in the wind”), Old Norse flögra (“to flap about”). Akin to Old High German flogarōn (“to flutter”), Old High German flogezen (“to flutter, flicker”), Middle English flakeren (“to move quickly to and fro”), Old English flacor (“fluttering, flying”). More at flack, flacker.

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

(nautical) A flag flown by a ship to show the presence on board of the admiral; the admiral himself, or his flagship.

admiralsflag

nautical: flag showing the presence of an admiral

(nautical, often used attributively) A signal flag.


fender

(nautical) any shaped cushion-like object normally made from polymers, rubber or wood that is placed along the sides of a boat to prevent damage when moored alongside another vessel or jetty, or when using a lock, etc. Modern variations are cylindrical although older wooden version and rubbing strips can still be found; old tyres are used as a cheap substitute


fender

en-verb

fender (third-person singular simple present fenders, present participle fendering, simple past and past participle fendered)

fenders (present singular third-person)
fendering (participle present)
fendered (participle past)
fendered (past)

(nautical) To use fenders to protect the side of a boat


fair

en-adj

fair (comparative fairer, superlative fairest)

fairer (comparative)
fairest (superlative)

→ German: fair

→ Macedonian: фер (fer)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: фер

Latin script: fer

From Middle English fayr, feir, fager, from Old English fæġer (“beautiful”), from Proto-West Germanic *fagr, from Proto-Germanic *fagraz (“suitable, fitting, nice”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to fasten, place”).
Cognate with Scots fayr, fare (“fair”), Danish feir, faver, fager (“fair, pretty”), Norwegian fager (“fair, pretty”), Swedish fager (“fair, pretty”), Icelandic fagur (“beautiful, fair”), Umbrian pacer (“gracious, merciful, kind”), Slovak pekný (“good-looking, handsome, nice”). See also peace.

cog

I shipped with them and becoming friends, we set forth on our venture, in health and safety; and sailed with a fair wind, till we came to a city called Madínat-al-Sín; […]

1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, “Night 563”, in A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:

(nautical, of a wind) Favorable to a ship's course.


row

en-verb

row (third-person singular simple present rows, present participle rowing, simple past and past participle rowed)

rows (present singular third-person)
rowing (participle present)
rowed (participle past)
rowed (past)

From Middle English rowen (“to row”), from Old English rōwan (“to row”), from Proto-Germanic *rōaną (“to row”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“to row”). Compare West Frisian roeie, Dutch roeien, Danish ro. More at rudder. Related to Russia.

(transitive or intransitive, nautical) To propel (a boat or other craft) over water using oars.

جَدَّفَ

transitive: propel over water using oars

remar

intransitive: propel a boat or other craft over water using oars


double

double (third-person singular simple present doubles, present participle doubling, simple past and past participle doubled)

doubles (present singular third-person)
doubling (participle present)
doubled (participle past)
doubled (past)

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English double, from Old French doble, double, from Latin duplus (“twofold”). Doublet of doppio and duple.

Sailing along the coast, he doubled the promontory of Carthage.

1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:

[…] though the Iſland itſelf was not very large […] I found a great Ledge of Rocks lie out about two Leagues into the Sea[…]ſo that I was oblig’d to go a great Way out to Sea to double the Point.

1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 162:

(nautical) To sail around (a headland or other point).


gale

gale (third-person singular simple present gales, present participle galing, simple past and past participle galed)

gales (present singular third-person)
galing (participle present)
galed (participle past)
galed (past)

From Middle English gale (“a wind, breeze”), possibly from Old English galan, possibly an unknown North Germanic origin, related to Icelandic gola (“a breeze”), Danish gal (“furious, mad”), both from Old Norse gala (“to sing”), and thus ultimately related to the above word (etymology 1).


horn

en-noun

horn (countable and uncountable, plural horns)

From Middle English horn, horne, from Old English horn, from Proto-West Germanic *horn, from Proto-Germanic *hurną. Compare West Frisian hoarn, Dutch hoorn, Low German Hoorn, horn, German Horn, Danish and Swedish horn, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽 (haurn).
Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂-nó-m, from *ḱerh₂- (“head, horn”). Compare Breton kern (“horn”), Latin cornū, Ancient Greek κέρας (kéras), Proto-Slavic *sьrna, Old Church Slavonic сьрна (sĭrna, “roedeer”), Hittite [script needed] (surna, “horn”), Persian سر (sar), Sanskrit शृङ्ग (śṛṅga, “horn”).
(telephone): From the horn-shaped earpieces of old communication systems that used air tubes.

cog

An object whose shape resembles a horn, such as cornucopia or the point of an anvil.

(nautical) The outer end of a crosstree; also, one of the projections forming the jaws of a gaff, boom, etc.


sheet

From Middle English schete; partly from Old English sċīete (“a sheet, a piece of linen cloth”); partly from Old English sċēata (“a corner, angle; the lower corner of a sail, sheet”); and Old English sċēat (“a corner, angle”); all from Proto-Germanic *skautijǭ, *skautaz (“corner, wedge, lap”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- (“to throw, shoot, pursue, rush”).
Cognate with North Frisian skut (“the fold of a garment, lap, coattail”), West Frisian skoat (“sheet; sail; lap”), Dutch schoot (“the fold of a garment, lap, sheet”), German Low German Schote (“a line from the foot of a sail”), German Schoß (“the fold of a garment, lap”), Swedish sköt (“sheet”), Icelandic skaut (“the corner of a cloth, a line from the foot of a sail, the skirt or sleeve of a garment, a hood”).

cog

To be "three sheets to the wind" is to say that a four-cornered sail is tethered only by one sheet and thus the sail is useless.

(nautical) A line (rope) used to adjust the trim of a sail.

Their folded Sheets dismiss the useless Air

1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):

fore sheets; stern sheets

(nautical) The space in the forward or after part of a boat where there are no rowers.


sheet

en-verb

sheet (third-person singular simple present sheets, present participle sheeting, simple past and past participle sheeted)

sheets (present singular third-person)
sheeting (participle present)
sheeted (participle past)
sheeted (past)

(nautical) To trim a sail using a sheet.


land

en-noun

land (countable and uncountable, plural lands)

From Middle English lond, land, from Old English land, from Proto-West Germanic *land, from Proto-Germanic *landą (“land”), from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“land, heath”).
Cognate with Scots laund (“land”), West Frisian lân (“land”), Dutch land (“land, country”), German Land (“land, country, state”), Norwegian and Swedish land (“land, country, shore, territory”), Icelandic land (“land”). Non-Germanic cognates include Old Irish lann (“heath”), Welsh llan (“enclosure”), Breton lann (“heath”), Old Church Slavonic лѧдо, from Proto-Slavic *lęda (“heath, wasteland”) and Albanian lëndinë (“heath, grassland”).

cog

Edward H[enry] Knight
w:Edward H. Knight

(nautical) The lap of the strakes in a clinker-built boat; the lap of plates in an iron vessel; called also landing.


steward

From Middle English steward, stiward, from Old English stīweard, stiġweard (“steward, housekeeper, one who has the superintendence of household affairs, guardian”), from stiġ (“a wooden enclosure; house, hall”) + weard (“ward, guard, guardian, keeper”), equivalent to sty + ward. Compare Icelandic stívarður (“steward”). More at sty, ward.

управител

any administrator of the property or affairs of another

There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy. Mail bags, so I understand, are being put on board. Stewards, carrying cabin trunks, swarm in the corridors. Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place.

1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:

(nautical) A ship's officer who is in charge of making dining arrangements and provisions.

стюард

ship's officer in charge of making dining arrangements and provisions


bulb

Southern US, African-American Vernacular, obsolete

Etymology tree
Ancient Greek βολβός (bolbós)bor.
Latin bulbusder.
English bulb
Inherited from Middle English bulb, bolbe, from Latin bulbus (“bulb, onion”), from Ancient Greek βολβός (bolbós, “plant with round swelling on underground stem”).

der

not the brightest bulb in the chandelier

(nautical) A bulbous protuberance at the forefoot of certain vessels to reduce turbulence.


hatch

From Middle English hacche, hache, from Old English hæċ, from Proto-West Germanic *hakkju (compare Dutch hek ‘gate, railing’, Low German Heck ‘pasture gate, farmyard gate’), variant of *haggju ‘hedge’. More at hedge.

(nautical) An opening through the deck of a ship or submarine


swig

en-verb

swig (third-person singular simple present swigs, present participle swigging, simple past and past participle swigged)

swigs (present singular third-person)
swigging (participle present)
swigged (participle past)
swigged (past)

Unknown, mid 16th c. Perhaps connected with Old English swelgan (“to swallow”).

(nautical) To take up the last bit of slack in rigging by taking a single turn around a cleat, then hauling on the line above and below the cleat while keeping tension on the line.


swig

(nautical) A tackle with ropes which are not parallel.


draft

en-noun

draft (countable and uncountable, plural drafts)

A phonetic spelling of draught (compare laughter), from Middle English draught, draght (“that which is pulled; that which is drawn up, a design”), from Old English *dreaht, *dræht, from Proto-West Germanic *drahti, *drahtu, from Proto-Germanic *drahtuz (“a pulling, drawing”), equivalent to draw (“to draw, drag”) + -t. Cognate with Dutch dracht, German Tracht, Icelandic dráttur.

draught

British spelling of many senses, but not all

(American spelling, nautical) The depth of water needed to float a particular ship; the depth from the waterline to the bottom of a vessel's hull; the depth of water drawn by a vessel.


tabernacle

From Middle English tabernacle (14th century), from Old French tabernacle, from Latin tabernāculum (“tent, booth, shed”), the diminutive of taberna (“hut, shed”).

der

(nautical) A hinged device allowing for the easy folding of a mast 90 degrees from perpendicular, as for transporting the boat on a trailer, or passing under a bridge.

mastonkaatolaite

nautical: device allowing for the easy folding of a mast


underwater

en-adj

underwater (comparative more underwater, superlative most underwater)

more underwater (comparative)
most underwater (superlative)

/ʌndɚˈwɔtəɹ/

When the ship was brought into dry dock, it was found that she had underwater damage.

(nautical) Beneath the water line of a vessel.


canvas

From Middle English canevas, from Anglo-Norman, from Old Northern French canevas (compare Old French chanevas, chenevas) from a root derived from Latin cannabis, from Ancient Greek κάνναβις (kánnabis). Compare French canevas, resulting from a blend of the Old French and a Picard dialect word, itself from Old Northern French. Doublet of cannabis and hemp.

The double desire of being able to overtake a weaker flying enemy, or to escape when pursued by a stronger, has induced the owners to overmast their cruisers, and to spread too much canvass; and the great number of men, many of them not seamen, who being upon deck when a ship heels suddenly are huddled down to leeward, and increase by their weight the effect of the wind.

1785 August, Benjamin Franklin, “On Improvements in Navigation”, in Jared Sparks, editor, Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin, […], volume III, London: […] [Abraham John Valpy] for Henry Colburn, […], published 1818, →OCLC, part IV (Philosophical Subjects), page 525:


dandy

→ Dutch: dandy

→ Esperanto: dando

→ Finnish: dandy

→ French: dandy

→ German: Dandy

desc

→ Japanese: ダンディ, ダンディー

→ Japanese: ダンディ, ダンディー

→ Limburgish: dèndie

→ Polish: dandy

→ Spanish: dandy

Borrowed from Scots dandy (“a fop; one who is well-dressed”). Of uncertain origin.
Possibly from Dandy, a diminutive of Andrew, yet the Scots word is used also in reference to women. Alternatively, possibly a back-formation of Scots dandilly, dandillie (“one who is spoiled or pampered; a "pet"”). Compare English dandle and dander.

bor

(British, nautical) A yawl, or a small after-sail on a yawl.


backboard

en-noun

backboard (usually uncountable, plural backboards)

Likely a borrowing from Dutch bakboord (“portside”) or from Middle Low German backbort, bakbōrt (“portside”). Old English bæcbord (“larboard, portside”) did not survive (in that form) into Middle English; Scottish texts of the 1500s have forms like bawbord, baburd and babord, possibly borrowed from French bâbord; later texts with Scots backburd, backber may have borrowed it from Old Norse bakborði (“portside”). Cognate with West Frisian bakboard (“portside”), German Backbord (“portside”), Danish bagbord (“portside”).

cog

And to delight in the fact that a hole on the backboard side means that you're safe because you're sitting on the starboard side seems to me to be less than clever.

2013, Klaus Backhaus, Hurdle Race Marketing:

But the gangplank was no longer in place. It had folded itself in half and clamped into storage position, becoming part of the starboard rail. Big Tom peered over the rail and saw nothing but sea. All around. Starboard, backboard, forward, aft.

2014, Jeff Bredenberg, The Dream Vessel:

(nautical) The port or larboard side of a ship


tom

en-verb

tom (third-person singular simple present toms, present participle tomming, simple past and past participle tommed)

toms (present singular third-person)
tomming (participle present)
tommed (participle past)
tommed (past)

(nautical) To dig out a hole below the hatch cover of a bulker and fill it with cargo or weights to aid stability.


ghost

ghost (third-person singular simple present ghosts, present participle ghosting, simple past and past participle ghosted)

ghosts (present singular third-person)
ghosting (participle present)
ghosted (participle past)
ghosted (past)

Inherited from Middle English gost, from Old English gāst (which was the word for “spirit” as well as “ghost”; the original sense survives in Modern English Holy Ghost), from Proto-West Germanic *gaist, from Proto-Germanic *gaistaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéysdos, derived from *ǵʰéysd- (“anger, agitation”).
The ⟨h⟩ in the spelling appears in the Prologue to William Caxton's Royal Book, printed in 1484, in a reference to the ‘Holy Ghoost’, likely introduced by Caxton's assistant, Wynkyn de Worde, as a result of Flemish influence, where it was spelled gheest at the time. Doublet of geist.

They move without any visible sign of movement, like a wakeless ship ghosting over the water.

2016, Nathanael Johnson, Unseen City, →ISBN, page 192:

(nautical) To sail seemingly without wind.


marine

→ Tokelauan: malini, maligi

Recorded since c.1420 as Middle English marin, borrowed from Middle French marin, from Old French, from Latin marinus (“of the sea”), itself from mare (“sea”), from Proto-Indo-European *móri (“body of water, lake”) (cognate with Old English mere (“sea, lake, pool, pond”), Dutch meer, German Meer, all from Proto-Germanic *mari). The modern pronunciation is presumably due to the influence of modern French marine, feminine singular of marin.

cog

He was a marine in World War II.

en:soldier at sea, especially of naval infantry

(military, nautical) A soldier, normally a member of a marine corps, trained to serve on board or from a ship.


squeegee

Probably from squeege, an intensified form of squeeze. Compare earlier squill-gee, squillgee.

скребо́к

с рези́новой наса́дкой

Holy-stoning the decks... is the worst description of nervous torture of which I ever heard, excepting perhaps, the infliction of the squee gee.

1844, Matilda Charlotte Fraser Houstoun, Texas & the Gulf of Mexico, volume I, page 39:

A tool consisting of a rubber or similar blade attached at a right angle to a handle, particularly

(nautical) A long-handled tool used on ships for swabbing the decks and spreading protective coatings.


moor

en-verb

moor (third-person singular simple present moors, present participle mooring, simple past and past participle moored)

moors (present singular third-person)
mooring (participle present)
moored (participle past)
moored (past)

From Middle English moren, from unattested Old English *mārian, from Proto-West Germanic *mairōn (“to moor, fasten to”), related to *maida- (“post”), from Proto-Indo-European *mēyt-, *meyt-, from *mēy-, *mey- (“stake, pole”). Cognate with Dutch meren (“to moor”), marren (“to bind”).

inh

[möː(ə̯)~mʊ̈ː(ə̯)]

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-moor.wav

maw (most non-rhotic accents with the pour–poor merger)

The vessel moored in the stream.

(intransitive, nautical) To cast anchor or become fastened.

They moored the boat to the wharf.

His thought is tied, the curving prow
Of motion moored to rock;
And minutes burst upon a brow
Insentient to shock.

1941, Theodore Roethke, “Death Piece”, in Open House; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, 1975, →ISBN, page 4:

(transitive, nautical) To fix or secure (e.g. a vessel) in a particular place by casting anchor, or by fastening with ropes, cables or chains or the like.

закотвям

to fix or secure, as a vessel, in a particular place by casting anchor, or by fastening with cables or chains