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STARBOARD AND LARBOARD

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 794 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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STARBOARD AND LARBOARD , nautical terms for the right and See also:

left sides respectively of a See also:ship, looking towards the bows. The final See also:part of these is Old See also:English bord, See also:board, the See also:side of a ship, now used for a See also:plank of See also:wood. In starboard (0. Eng. steorbord) the first part certainly means " See also:steer," and " steering side " therefore refers to the See also:time when vessels were steered by a See also:paddle or sweep worked from the right side. In Old English the left side of a ship was known as baecbord, back board, the side of the See also:vessel to the back of the steersman. This is paralleled in all other See also:Teutonic See also:languages, cf. See also:German backbord, and has been adopted in Romanic languages, cf. See also:French bdbord. Baecbord did not survive in See also:Middle English, in which its See also:place was taken by laddeborde or latheborde. In the 16th See also:century the word takes the forms lerbord, leerebord or larbord, probably by assimilation to ster-, steere-, and See also:star-bord. There is much doubt as to the origin of the See also:term and the curious See also:change from laddebord to larboard. See also:Skeat (Etym.

Did.) suggests that these may be two distinct words. The earlier See also:

form is usually connected with " lade," to put See also:cargo on board a vessel, the left side being that on which this was usually done, for the ship when in See also:port would See also:lie with her left side against the See also:quay See also:wall, her See also:head pointing to the entrance. If the later form is not due to See also:mere assimilation to starboard, it may contain a word meaning empty (O. Eng. gelds., Ger. See also:leer), and refer to that side of the vessel where the steersman does not stand. Owing to the similarity in See also:sound between starboard and larboard, the word port is now used for the left side. The substitution of this for the older term was officially ordered in the See also:British See also:navy by an See also:admiralty See also:order of 1844, and in the See also:United States of See also:America by a navy See also:department See also:notice in 1896. The use of port in this sense is much older; it occurs in See also:Manwaring's See also:Seaman's See also:Dictionary (1625-1644). In this usage port may either mean," See also:harbour " (See also:Lat. porous), the ship lying with its left side against the port or quay for unloading, or " opening," " entrance " (Lat. Aorta, See also:gate), for the cargo to be taken on board; cf.

End of Article: STARBOARD AND LARBOARD

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