Nautical+Terms


 * This page contains a small selection of Nauitcal terminology. Some of the words will be new to some people while other words will be noticed to have a different meaning to that of everyday use. It can also be noted that many words used in everyday life have nautical origins**


 * Aboard** - On or in a vessel. Close aboard is close to another ship or an obstruction.
 * Above Deck** - On the deck (not over it); see ALOFT.
 * Abyss** - That part of the ocean lying below 300 fathoms from the surface.
 * Accommodation** - A cabin fitted for the use of passengers.
 * Admiral** - The title of a commander of a fleet or a subdivision of it.
 * Admiralty Law** - The law of the sea; jurisdiction over maritime causes.
 * Adrift** - Floating free with the currents and tide; said of a free floating object or boat which can not move by its own power; floating at random.
 * Aft** - At, near or towards the stern; to move aft is to move back.
 * Aftermost** - The farthest aft.
 * Aground** - When the hull or keel is touching or fast to the bottom of any body of water; on or onto the shore.
 * Ahoy** - Seaman's call to attract attention
 * All Hands** - The entire crew; an order on board ship for all seamen to muster on deck immediately.
 * Aloft** - Above the deck, usually overhead on the mast or in the rigging.
 * Amidships** - In or toward the part of a boat or ship midway between the bow and the stern; also midway between port and starboard sides; toward the middle of the ship or boat.
 * Anchor** - (1) A heavy metal object, fastened to a chain or line, to hold a vessel in position, partly because of its weight, but chiefly because the designed shape digs into the bottom. (2) The act of using an anchor.
 * Anchor is Aweigh** - Anchor is off the sea bottom when being heaved in.
 * Ashore** - On the land or aground.
 * Auxiliary** - (1) A second method of propelling a vessel. On a sailboat this would be the engine. (2) Machinery fitted in steam and motor vessels which is not part of the main propelling machinery. (3) a support group, e.g., Coast Guard Auxiliary.
 * Avast** - A command to stop or cease immediately what one is doing.


 * Bail** - To remove water from the boat by hand, bucket, pump etc.
 * Barque (Also Bark)** - A sailing ship with three to five masts, all of them square-rigged except the after mast, which is fore-and-aft rigged.
 * Beam** - (1) The transverse measurement of a boat at its widest point. Also called breadth. (2) One of the transverse members of a ship's frames on which the decks are laid.
 * Below** - Beneath the decks, i.e., inside a cabin or in a hold.
 * Berth** - (1) A place for a person to sleep. (2) A place where the ship can tie up or anchor. (3) A position of employment aboard a ship (4) A safe and cautious distance from which another vessel or object is passed, as in "giving wide berth"
 * Bilge** - The part of the floors of a ship on either side of the keel which approaches closer to a horizontal rather than vertical direction. The very lowest part of a boats interior where water is likely to collect.
 * Bilge Pump** - A mechanical, electrical, or manually operated pump used to remove water from the bilge.
 * Board** - To go onboard, to go into a ship.
 * Boat** - A fairly indefinite term. A waterborne vehicle smaller than a ship. One definition is a small craft carried aboard a ship
 * Boilers** - Steam generating units used aboard ship to provide steam for propulsion and for heating and other auxiliary purposes.
 * Bosun's Chair** - Canvas or wood seat attached a halyard to raise and lower someone to work on the mast.
 * Bow** - The forwardmost or front part of the vessel. Opposite of Stern.
 * Bridge** - (1) The location from which a vessel is steered and its speed controlled; navigation and command center of the vessel. (2) A man made structure crossing a body of water.
 * Brig** - A two-masted vessel with both masts square rigged. On the sternmost mast, the main mast, there is also a gaff sail.
 * Bristol Fashion** - Kept in a neat seaman-like manner.
 * Bulkhead** - A name given to any vertical partition or wall which separates different compartments or spaces from one another, also adding strength. Sometimes bulkheads are also watertight, adding to the vessel's safety.
 * Bunk** - a sleeping berth or bed.
 * Bunker(s)** - A compartment in which fuel is stored; fuel consumed by the engines of a ship.
 * Buoy** - (1) A floating object employed as an aid to mariners to mark the navigable limits of channels, their fairways, sunken dangers, isolated rocks, etc. (2) an anchored float marking a position or for use as a mooring.


 * Cabin** - A room or living compartment for passengers or crew.
 * Calm** - Little or no wind and flat seas.
 * Captain** - The person who is in charge of a vessel and legally responsible for it and its occupants.
 * Cargo** - Ship supplies.
 * Cargo Hatch** - An opening in a ship's deck for the loading and discharging of any kind of cargo.
 * Cast Adrift** - To abandon a ship at sea; to place people in a ship's boat or raft and leave them.
 * Cast Off** - To let go of a line; to leave a dock or a mooring; to untie or loose a rope or line.
 * Castaway** - A shipwrecked sailor as compared with one who has been marooned or deliberately put ashore.
 * Catwalk** - On a ship, a raised bridge running fore and aft from the midship, and also called "walkway". It affords safe passage over the pipelines and other deck obstructions.
 * Chief Engineer** - The senior engineer officer responsible for the satisfactory working and upkeep of the main and auxiliary machinery and boiler plant on board ship.
 * Clipper** - A sharp-bowed sailing vessel of the mid-19th century, having tall masts and sharp lines; built for great speed; the generic name used to describe types of fast sailing ships.
 * Companion Way** - The area leading down from the deck to the cabin, usually with steps (ladder).
 * Compartments** - The spaces between the transverse bulkheads of a ship.
 * Compass** - Navigation instrument, either magnetic, containing a magnetized card indicating the direction to magnetic north (showing magnetic north) or gyro (showing true north).
 * CQD** - The original distress call made by a ship requiring assistance, giving way to SOS. It stood for CQ, the signal for all stations (still used by Amateur Radio Operators, or Hams), and D for distress; it also meant "Come Quickly, Danger"
 * Cutter** - A single masted sailboat similar to a sloop except sails are arranged so that many combinations of areas may be obtained. A sail plan with two headsails, a main jib and a smaller staysail set between the jib and the mast.


 * Davit(s)** - A small crane that projects over the side of the boat to raise or lower objects (such as smaller boats) from or to the water.
 * Dead Ahead** - A position directly in front of the vessel.
 * Dead Astern** - A position directly aft or behind the vessel.
 * Deck** - A permanent covering over a compartment, hull or any part of a ship serving as a floor.
 * Dinghy** - A small open boat often used as tender and lifeboat for a larger craft; a small open boat, usually carried aboard a yacht for going ashore.
 * Displacement** - The weight of a floating boat measured as the weight of the amount of water it displaces. A boat displaces an amount of water equal to the weight of the boat, so the boat's displacement and weight are identical.
 * Donkey Boiler** - A steam boiler on a ship deck used to supply steam to deck machinery when the main boilers are shut down.
 * Donkey Engine** - An auxiliary engine used for furnishing power for a variety of small mechanical chores.
 * Draft** - (1) The depth of the boat below the waterline; the amount of vertical distance from a boats water line to the bottom of it's keel. (2) The depth of water necessary to float a vessel (3) The belly or chord depth of the sail, its fullness.
 * Drag** - (1) The resistance to movement. (2) An anchor drags when its flukes do not hold.
 * Drift** - (1) Speed or velocity of current (2) The leeway, or movement of the boat, when not under power, or when being pushed sideways while under power.
 * Drift Ice** - Ice in an area containing several small pieces of floating ice, but with total water area exceeding total area of ice.
 * Dry Dock** - A dock into which a vessel is floated, which when raised lifts the boat out of the water. Can also be a watertight basin with one end open to the sea that can be closed and sealed with a gate, thus allowing the basin to be pumped out. This facility allows inspections, painting and repairs to be made on the hull and any underwater machinery.
 * Ducts** - Tubes used to move air, such as to ventilate an enclosed area.


 * Embarkation/Embark** - To go aboard the vessel; to put onboard a vessel.
 * ETA** - Estimated time of arrival.
 * ETD** - Estimated time of departure.


 * Fast Ice** - Ice extending seaward from land to which it is attached.
 * Field Ice** - Ice pack whose limits cannot be seen from ship.
 * Figurehead** - An ornamental carved and painted figure on the stem of the vessel.
 * Forward** - At or toward the bow. Also the fore part of the ship.
 * Forecastle** - Also fo'c'sle or fo'csle. Pronounced "foke-sul". The most forward below decks area of a vessel; The crew quarters on a traditional sailing ship forward of the main mast.


 * Galley** - (1) The kitchen area of a boat. (2) Very old fighting ship propelled by oars.
 * Gangway** - A narrow portable platform used as a passage, by persons entering or leaving a vessel moored alongside a pier.
 * Girth** - The measurement around the body of a ship. The half girth is taken from the center line of the keel to the upper deck beam end.
 * GMT** - See Greenwich Mean Time.
 * Ground** - To touch bottom.


 * Hand** - A member of the ship's crew.
 * Hatch** - A sliding or hinged opening in the deck, providing people with access to the cabin or space below; an opening in a boat's deck fitted with a watertight cover.
 * Heavy Seas** - When the water has large or breaking waves in stormy conditions.
 * H.M.S.** - The prefix placed before the name of a warship of the British Navy to indicate that she is Her (His) Majesty's ship.
 * H.M.H.S.** - The prefix placed before the name of a warship of the British Navy to indicate that she is Her (His) Majesty's __hospital__ ship.
 * Hoist** - To lift or raise, such as a sail or a flag.
 * Hull** - The main structural body or shell of the boat, not including the deck, keel, mast, or cabin.


 * Iceberg** - A floating island of ice. Only one-ninth of the total mass of an iceberg is visible above water level.
 * International Date Line** - The line of longitude 180 degrees opposite Greenwich, England, located in the Pacific that marks the date change.


 * Jacobs Ladder** - A rope ladder with wooden steps. A rope ladder, lowered from the deck, as when pilots or passengers come aboard.
 * Jetty** - A man made structure projecting from the shore. May protect a harbor entrance or aid in preventing beach erosion.
 * Jolly Roger** - In lore, the flag flown by a pirate ship - a white skull on a black background with crossed bones below the skull - although there is no evidence that such a flag was ever flown.


 * Keel** - (1) The backbone of a vessel, running fore and aft along the center line of the bottom of the hull; the timber at the very bottom of the hull to which frames are attached. (2) A flat surface built into the bottom of the boat to prevent or reduce the leeway caused by the wind pushing against the side of the boat. A keel also usually has some ballast to help keep the boat upright and prevent it from heeling too much. There are several types of keels, such as fin keels and full keels.
 * Knot** - (1) A speed of one nautical mile (6,076 feet or or 1,852 meters) per hour. It is incorrect to say knots per hour. (2) A method of attaching a rope or line to itself, another line or a fitting.


 * Laid Up** - A boat in a dry dock.
 * Lanyard** - A Short line used to attach one thing to another - a short rope or cord that secures or attaches an item onboard a boat, usually for keeping it attached to the boat.
 * Lash** - To tie something with a line; to secure.
 * Liberty** - Term for a seaman's short leave from his ship, permitting him to go ashore for the day or night.
 * Life Jacket** - A device used to keep a person afloat. Also called a life preserver, life vest, PFD or personal floatation device.
 * Life Raft** - A raft used in case of emergencies, such as sinking or fire.
 * Life Vest** - A wearable device used to keep a person afloat. Also called a life jacket, life preserver, PFD or personal floatation device.
 * Lifeboat** - Small boat carried on the vessel and used in case of emergency.
 * Lifeboat Drill** - The master of every vessel is bound by international law to make the officers, crew and passengers adequately acquainted with the procedures of lowering and the use of lifeboats in case of emergency.
 * Lifebuoy, Life Ring** - a circular donut-shaped buoy designed to support a person in the water. It is attached to the vessel with a (floating) line so that the person can be hauled back to the boat.
 * Lifeline** - Stout line or cable fore and aft around the deck of the boat to keep crew from falling overboard.
 * Log** - (1) A record of all the activities aboard a ship. The Log Book. (2) A device used to measure the distance traveled and speed through the water.
 * Lookout** - A person designated to watch for other vessels and hazards.

be used if there is an immediate threat to life or vessel.
 * Main Deck** - The uppermost complete deck.
 * Main Mast** - The tallest mast; the forward mast of a yawl or ketch; the mast furthest aft on a schooner.
 * Make Way** - Moving through the water.
 * Mast** - The vertical pole or spar that supports the boom and sails. a mast on a mechanically propelled vessel holds electronics antennas, lights, etc.
 * Mast Head** - The top of the mast.
 * Master** - The Captain of a vessel. Highest officer aboard ship. Oversees all ship operations. Keeps ships records. Handles accounting and bookkeeping. Takes command of vessel in inclement weather and in crowded or narrow waters. Handles communications.
 * Masthead Light** - Also known as a steaming light. The masthead light is a white light that is visible for an arc extending across the forward 225° of the boat. When lit the masthead light indicates that a vessel under power, including sailboats with engines running. Masthead lights are usually located halfway up the mast rather than at the top.
 * Mayday** - An internationally recognized distress signal used on a radio to indicate a life threatening situation. Mayday calls have priority over any other radio transmission and should only.
 * Mess** - Dining room facilities and kitchen for crew separate from the passenger dining room and kitchen.
 * Morse Code** - A language of "dots" and "dashes" used to send messages, either sound using radio waves, or light using a searchlight or Aldis lamp.
 * Muster** - To assemble passengers and/or crew.
 * Mutiny** - A forceful resistance to recognized authority. A refusal to obey a legal order of a superior officer is also considered mutiny.


 * Nautical** - Having to do with boats, ships, or sailing.
 * Nautical Mile** - Distance at sea is measured in nautical miles, which are about 6067 feet, 1.15 statute miles or 1852 meters. Nautical miles have the unique property that a minute of latitude is equal to one nautical mile. Measurement of speed is done in knots where one knot equals one nautical mile per hour.
 * Naval Architect** - One who designs ships.
 * Navigation Lights** - Required lights on a boat help others determine its course, position and what it is doing. Boats underway should have a red light visible from its port bow, a green light on the starboard bow and a white light at its stern. Other lights are required for vessels under power, fishing, towing, etc.
 * Net Tonnage** - Useful cargo carrying capacity of vessel. The volume of cargo a ship could carry, equal to gross tonnage minus the crew cabins, storerooms and machinery spaces. One ton equals 100 cubic feet.


 * Officer** - Any of the licensed members of the ship's complement.
 * Old Salt** - A very experienced and/or old sailor.
 * On Board** - On or in a ship.


 * Pack-Ice** - Numbers of large pieces of floating ice that have come together and lie more or less in contact.
 * Personal Flotation Device (PFD)** - Official terminology for life jacket. When properly used a PFD will support a person in the water. Also called a life jacket, life preserver or life vest.
 * Plot** - To mark a course on a chart.
 * Poop Deck** - The short aftermost raised deck of a vessel.
 * Port** - (1) The left side of the boat when facing forward; originally called larboard. The opposite of starboard. (2) - A porthole. A window in the side of a boat, usually round or with rounded corners. (3) A harbor.
 * Porthole** - Openings in a ship's hull for ventilation, light and other purposes.
 * Prevailing Winds** - The typical winds for a particular region and time of year.
 * Propeller** - A rotating device, with two or more blades, that acts as a screw in propelling a vessel. Sometimes called a screw.
 * Purser** - A ship's officer who is in charge of accounts, especially on a passenger ship.


 * Quarantine** - A harbor restriction placed on a ship which has an infectious disease on board, or which has arrived from a country where such a disease is prevalent. The crew may not go ashore until the ship is granted.
 * Quarterdeck** - The part of the upper deck which is abaft the mainmast, or in that general location of a ship without one. The quarterdeck was normally reserved for officers.
 * Quartermaster** - An able-bodied seamen entrusted with the steering of a vessel when entering or leaving a harbor. He is also involved with the use and upkeep of navigational equipment.


 * Reciprocating Engine** - A form of steam engine where a piston moves back and forth inside a cylinder, transmitting its motion to a driving shaft by a connecting rod and crank.
 * Rigging** - A general term applying to all the lines, stays and shrouds necessary for spars and sails. The standing rigging is the mast, shrouds and stays, while running rigging refers to halyards and sheets that control the sails.
 * Rivet** - A metal pin by which the plating and other parts of iron and steel vessels are joined. Rivets are known by their heads, such as: Flush, pan, snap, plug, tap, countersunk, mushroom, and swollen neck.
 * R.M.S.** - Prefix before a ship's name to indicate that she is a Royal Mail steamship
 * Rudder** - A board-shaped swinging vane, controlled by a tiller or wheel, and attached to the rudderpost or stern for steering and maneuvering a vessel.


 * S.S.** - Prefix before a ship's name to indicate that she is a steamship
 * Sailing Ice** - Small masses of drift ice with waterways in which a vessel can sail.
 * Sextant** - A navigational instrument used to measure the altitude of celestial bodies.
 * She** - All boats are referred to as female. She is at anchor. Her sails are set. She is beautiful.
 * Shear Pin** - A safety device, used to fasten a propeller to its shaft; it breaks when the propeller hits a solid object, thus preventing further damage.
 * Ship's Company** - All those employed to work on board the vessel.
 * Ship's Log** - A book with a record of every occurrence and incident concerning the ship.
 * Shipwright** - A ship builder, or one who works about a ship. Does wood carpentry on the ship and keeps ships faired. Builds launching ways and launches ship.
 * Sister Ships** - Ships built on the same design.
 * Skeg** - An extension of the keel for protection of propeller and rudder.
 * SOS** - A distress call made by a vessel requiring assistance. These three letters were chosen because they were easy to make and read using Morse Code. Some believe the letters meant "Save Our Ship" or "Save Our Souls".
 * Sound** - (1) To measure water depth or the depth of liquid in a tank (2) Signals required by navigation rules describing the type of vessels and their activities during times of fog.
 * Starboard** - The right side of the boat when facing forward.
 * Steamer** - A steamship. A ship propelled by a steam engine.
 * Steerage** - The after part of a vessel having the poorest accommodations and occupied by the steerage passengers, or those paying the lowest fare.
 * Stern** - The back (aftermost) part of a boat.


 * Tender** - (1) Describing a boat that lacks stability. (2) A small dinghy or launch used to transport crew and equipment from shore to a larger boat (3) One who serves as a precautionary standby, such as a line tender.
 * Tether** - A line attached between a safety harness and a secure part of the boat.
 * Topside** - Above the main deck.
 * Trade Winds** - Steady regular winds in a belt approximately 30° North and 30° South of the equator.


 * Underway** - Not attached to the shore or the ground in any manner. Usually, but not necessarily, moving through or making way through the water.
 * Unseaworthiness** - The state or condition of a vessel when it is not in a proper state of maintenance, or if the loading equipment or crew, or in any other respect is not ready to encounter the ordinary perils of sea.
 * Upper Deck** - The highest continuous deck which runs the full length of the ship without a fall or interruption.


 * Ventilator** - A device for furnishing fresh air to compartments below deck or exhausting foul air. Construction designed to lead air below decks. May have a cowl, which can be angled into or away from the wind; and may be constructed with baffles, so that water is not allowed below, as in a Dorade ventilator.
 * Vessel** - A general term for a floating craft that carries passengers, cargo or both.
 * Visual Fix** - A fix taken by visually observing the location of known landmarks.
 * Voyage** - A journey made at sea by a vessel, usually including both the outbound and homebound passages.


 * Wake** - Moving waves, track or path that a boat leaves behind it, when moving through the water; the track of disturbed water a boat leaves as it moves.
 * Wash** - (1) Broken water at bow of a vessel making way. (2) Disturbed water made by a propeller or paddle wheel. (3) The rush or sweeping of waves on a bank, shore, or vessel.
 * Watch** - The day at sea is divided into six four hour periods. Three groups of watchstanders are on duty for four hours and then off for eight, then back to duty; also refers to those standing watch as an individual, pair, or group. In order to prevent the same men from keeping the same watch each day, the watch between 1600 and 2000 is divided into two half watches, known as the first and last dog watches, in order to produce an odd number of watches each day.
 * Waterline** - The line where the water comes to on the hull of a boat. Design waterline is where the waterline was designed to be, load waterline is the waterline when the boat is loaded, and the painted waterline is where the waterline was painted. Actual waterline is where the waterline really is at any given time.
 * Watertight Bulkhead** - A bulkhead that will not let water pass from one side of it to the other.
 * Watertight Compartment** - A compartment having a watertight bulkhead at each end.
 * Way-** A vessel's movement through the water; such as headway, sternway, or leeway.
 * Weigh Anchor** - To raise anchor in preparation for departure.
 * Wharf** - Man-made structure of wood or stone parallel to the shoreline, used for loading and offloading of cargo, embarkation and disembarkation of passengers, or making fast. Virtually the same as a quay, except a quay is generally built only of stone.
 * Wheel** - (1) Device used for steering a boat. (2) Slang for a ship's propeller.
 * White Horses** - Fast-running waves with white foam crests.
 * Wreck** - The hull of a ship which is a total loss through weather stress, collision, fire, sinking, stranding or any other cause.