The Overlook Illustrated Dictionary of Nautical Terms PDF
Preview The Overlook Illustrated Dictionary of Nautical Terms
The Overlook r Terms autical In faoHwi CIVIC CENTER II T7 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| /T\ ] J 3 1111 00892 7350 I he tfverbok + /ts illustrated 'Dictionary Terms ofV^ljmtical also by the author ILLUSTRATED HOUSEBUILDING* THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WOODWORKING HANDTOOLS, INSTRUMENTS AND DEVICES ILLUSTRATED BASICCARPENTRY THEPOSTAGESTAMPGAZETTEER ILLUSTRATED FURNITUREMAKING ILLUSTRATED INTERIORCARPENTRY* THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SHIPS BOATSANDVESSELS* *published byTheOverlook Press The Overlook Dictionary illustrated of^Nautical 'Terms urn The Overlook Press Woodstock, N.Y. FirstpublishedintheUSA in 1981 by TheOverlookPress LewisHollowRoad Woodstock,NewYork, 12498 Copyright ©GrahamBlackburn 1981 AllRightsReserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybe reproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans, electronicormechanical, includingphotocopy, recording, orany informationorstorageandretrievalsystemnowknown ortobe invented, withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe publisher, exceptbyareviewerwhowishestoquotebrief passagesinconnectionwithareviewwrittenforinclusionin amagazine, newspaperorbroadcast. Library ofCongress Cataloging in Publication Data Blackburn, Graham, 1940- The Overlook illustrated dictionary ofnautical terms. 1. Naval art and science—Dictionaries. I. Title. V23.B58 623.8'03'21 80-39640 ISBN 0-87951-124-9 Printedinthe USA Preface This book has been designed as a useful reference to nautical terms, and as such includes names, terms, parts, and expressions ofand relating to the sea and the vessels thatsail it. It should be borne in mind, therefore, that names ofpeople, specificships, typesofvessels,and actual events have not been included: these belong more properly to general encyclopedias and companions. Furthermore, for reasons of size and usefulness, I have not included the more technical and archaic terms relating to specific branches ofmaritime knowledge, such as detailed shipbuildingterms, navigational theory, navalgunnery, and obscure legal terms. What remains isascomprehensiveas I have beenable to makeit:thepartsandequipmentof vessels old and new; the names of the places aboard ship; the ranks and functions of the people who sail them;the namesandtermsrelatingtothevariousstatesandconditionsofthe sea and the vessels that sail it; the orders, directives, and manoeuvres involved in sailingall kinds ofvessels;all kinds oflore, phenomena, and nautical slang;and theplacesanyvesselis likely to find herself. Each entry has been made as self-explanatory as possible. Although this is to a certain extent a technical work, it should not be necessary to refer to further entries in order to understand any one entry. Nevertheless, where a certain term occurs in several adjacent entries following a definition of it, it is assumed to be understood. For example, the term boom is explained in its own entry. But in the ten subsequent boom-related entries I have thought that ten repetitions of the original definition would be unnecessarily tiresome. Additionally, to simplify matters and avoid repetitious definitions in countless entries, I haveassumed thatthefollowingfewterms will be understood withoutbeingexplainedevery timetheyoccur(theyare neverthelessfullydefinedwheretheyoccurontheirowninthestrict alphabetical order ofthe book): hull, mast, spar, sail, rudder, propeller, block, fore-and-aft (as in a fore-and-aft sail), and square (as in square sail and square-rigged orsquare-rigger). The spelling and hyphenation of many nautical terms may appear to be capricious, but marine nomenclature has long been infamousforitsconfusion. I havetried to beconsistent with accepted usage, even though this may sometimes appear to be at odds with a more logicaland grammaticalapproach. Forexamp^, Ican offernojustificationotherthanyears ofusageforthefactthatthenavalranksofviceadmiralandrearadmiralarealwaysspelledas two words, while the yacht club ranks ofvice-commodore and rear-commodorearealways spelled hyphenated. Where the British spelling differs from the American, I have noted the British in brackets. I have also added in brackets the metric equivalents of all original measurements. Allentriesarein strictalphabetical order. Thosethathavebeencross-referencedappearin brackets behind the entry to which they have been referred. Alternative namesforthe same term thataresimilarenough to be nextinalphabeticalorderareconsideredasthesameentry andappearasfollows (Addel or Addle). Wherethe pronunciationis radicallydifferentfrom what one would expect (even of English), it is so indicated in brackets after the entry. The compilation of a dictionary is, as may be imagined, an enormous task and one frequentlyundertakenonlybyteamsofexperts.ThatIhavebeenboldenoughtoattemptthis alonein nowayremovesfrommetheresponsibilityforanyerrorsoromissions,and Ishould be very grateful if any such shortcomings were to be brought to my attention. Graham Blackburn
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