Star Glossary

Aft: In rear to, or towards the stern.

Aloft: In the rigging, above the deck.

Amidships: In the middle of the ship.

Anchor: Iron or iron and wood device to hold the ship in place by digging into the bottom.

Avast: Stop, quit what you are doing.

Aye, Aye!: "I understand and will carry out your order.", Yes.

Belay: Figure eight knot tied around the top and bottom of a belaying pin to hold the line fast.

Bight: A bend or loop in a rope; the double part of a folded rope. In knotting the part of a rope between the end and the standing part.

Bilge: The lowest internal part of the hull where the bilge water collects.

Binnacle: Housing for the ship's compass.

Bitter end: The very end of a piece of rope.

Block: Wood or metal case for sheave (pulley) or sheaves.

Bow: The whole forward end of a boat or ship.

Captain: The first in command on any vessel.

"Carry On": Indication that an order is finished being given and must be carried out.

Doctor: Ship’s cook, called so because he has the knives.

Fathom: Six feet, a measurement of length (finger tip to finger to tip length, now standardized to six feet).

First Mate: Second in command, one below the captain.

Forecastle: Raised part of deck in the bow or the crew’s quarters; also called the fo’c’sle.

Galley: The ship’s kitchen.

Greenhand: Inexperienced hand aboard a vessel.

Hatch: Opening in the deck provided with a cover and with a kind of box around it.

Head: The ship’s toilet.

Line: A sailor’s word for more rope.

Mainmast: A sailing vessel’s principal mast, usually the tallest.

Mast: A vertical spar for supporting sails and rigging.

Poop: The highest deck at the stern. The name comes from a similar deck on Roman ship's called the "puppis" where the images of Gods were kept.

Port: The left side of a vessel, as one faces the bow.

Reeve: To pass a line through a hole, as in a block.

"Salt": An experienced seaman on a vessel.

Sheave: The grooved pulley wheel in a block.

Sir: The Captain.

Slack away: To let out line without losing control of the line.

Spar: Any support for sails or rigging (a mast, yard, boom).

Standing part: The main part of a line as distinguished from the bight and the bitter end.

Starboard:  The right side of the vessel as one faces the bow.

Stern: The whole after or back end of a ship.

Stow: To put anything away in its proper place; applied to anything loose.

Tackle: (pronounced "taykle") Line rigged through and around pulleys (blocks) to increase the effect of pull applied.

Thwort: Transverse seat in a boat, for rowers to sit on it.

Yard: Horizontal yards that holds the sails.