Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. See port2.
- adj. On the port side.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Nautical, that side of a ship which is on the left hand of a person facing the bow: opposed to starboard, the right-hand side. The term is now obsolescent, the word port having been officially substituted in order to avoid confusion, in hearing orders, with the opposite but like-sounding starboard.
- Of or pertaining to the left-hand side of a ship; port: as, the larboard quarter.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Naut.) The left-hand side of a ship to one on board facing toward the bow; port; -- opposed to
starboard . - adj. On or pertaining to the left-hand side of a vessel; port.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. located on the left side of a ship or aircraft
- n. the left side of a ship or aircraft to someone who is aboard and facing the bow or nose
Etymologies
- From Middle English ladebord, referring to the side of the ship on which cargo was loaded. Changed to larboard in the 16th century by association with starboard. (Wiktionary)
- Alteration (influenced by starboard) of Middle English laddebord : perhaps laden, to load; see load + borde, side of a ship; see starboard. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“A little puff of wind on the larboard quarter, and then larboard fore braces!”
“The Egyptians, steering on the right-hand side, probably took in cargo on the left side or "larboard", that is, the "load" or”
Flag and Fleet How the British Navy Won the Freedom of the Seas
“[Illustration: This diagram is taken from Commodore Morris 'autobiography and the log of the _Guerrière_: the official accounts apparently consider "larboard" and "starboard" as interchangeable terms.]”
“The various writers used "larboard" and "starboard" with such perfect indifference, in speaking of the closing and the loss of the _Guerrière's_ mizzen-mast, that I hardly knew which account to adopt; it finally seemed to me that the only way to reconcile the conflicting statements was by making the mast act as a rudder, first to keep the ship off the wind until it was dead aft and then to bring her up into it.”
“7The term 'larboard' is never used at seam now, to signify the left hand; but was always used on the river in my time.”
“larboard' side; that the lever which moves the rudder that steers the ship was called the 'helm,' and that to steer the ship was to take 'a trick at the wheel '; that to' put the helm up 'was to turn it in the direction from which the wind was coming (windward), and to' put the helm down 'was to turn it in the direction the wind was going (leeward).”
“James says "larboard" where Cooper says "starboard"; one says the _Wasp_ wore, the other says that she could not do so, etc.] [Illustration: Shows the paths of the _Wasp_ and the _Frolic_ during their battle and the positions of the ships at various times during the battle from 11.32 to 12.15] "The American fire showed itself to be as accurate as it was rapid.”
“Until the early 19th century this side of the vessel was called the "larboard" side, (possibly deriving from its use as the "loading side".”
“Try to imagine "All larboard bowlines on deck!" being shouted down into the forecastle of a present day ship.”
“The longboat was lowering away to larboard, and I saw men, struggling on the ice-sheeted deck with barrels of provisions, abandon the food in their haste to get away.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘larboard’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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LIT - Odyssey - key words and phrases
Key words of the Odyssey by Homer in English including all those famous repeating epitethons like
"bright-eyed Athene"
"wine-dark sea"
"rosy-fingered dawn"
"long suf...Odysseus, sea, Athene, goddess, land, Achaean, wind, wave, Ithaca, lead, Poseidon, mortal and 732 more...
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phrontistery - l
from phrontistery.info
labarum, labefactation, labeorphily, labidometer, labile, lability, labiomancy, labret, labrose, labtebricole, lac, laccolith and 496 more...
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[Open] Sinister Ascriptions
These words either descend from a word or root referring to the left side or direction (e.g., “sinister”) or refer to the concept themselves. Many, but not all, have negative connotations.
sinister, sinistral, gauche, bend sinister, bar sinister, sinister-handed, sinisterly, oculus sinister, ambisinister, sinister base, sinister aspect, ramus sinister and 43 more...
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Scriptie: Master and Commander
Nice ambient words from the movie. (With apologies to Patrick O'Brian.) Aaaah, life at sea...aboard a hulk of the British navy in 1805...
surprise, acheron, guns, souls, oceans, battlefields, prize, burn, sink, privateer, hammock, lantern and 118 more...
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Maineisms
Some of these were taken from older literature and have fallen out of use in the past few decades, but many are still used today in the same way they were used a century ago. By no means a compreh...
Yankeedom, wizzled, wing and wing, wickie-up, whiffletree, weewaw, wangan, wainy, upstair, twice-laid, tunket, trig and 136 more...
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The Innocents Abroad
Words rounded up while reading The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain.
rakish, excursionist, bowelless, pilgrimizing, melodeon, woebegone, abaft, sextant, veriest, behindhand, stanchion, avast and 188 more...
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Archaic
Because they just don't make 'em like they used to.
comeling, circuition, assentment, advisement, accompts, apertness, larum, soothfastness, deperdition, marish, covin, tinct and 166 more...
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Whaleworthy & Piratical Words
A list of favorite nautical words to be sprinkled liberally throughout speech for piratical or Melvillian effect.
batten down, back and fill, beamy, baulking, beckets, bilge, bold shore, boomjumper, breaker, larboard, abaft, ash breeze and 156 more...
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...:::bella:::...
originally started as an attempt to collect words I found visually and auditorially beautiful, as well as psychically evocative, this has become nothing more than a grab bag of word curiosities, a ...
bergamot, jambalaya, bee's knees, heliotrope, hosanna, gamboge, aureole, filial, madrigal, multilingual, sacrosanct, sojourn and 1072 more...
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looked up
Words I've come across while reading and looked up in the dictionary.
deesis, pendentive, revetment, aedicule, stemma, patera, ephod, entrepot, corbel, exedra, volute, archivolt and 1408 more...
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Red Seas Under Red Skies
Words and phrase from Scott Lynch's book, Red Seas Under Red Skies.
legate, pugnacity, weevil, steady as a dry-d..., chit, sans, apprise, forfend, ken, expatriate, enclave, scrubs and 220 more...
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The Lies of Locke Lamora
Words and phrases from Scott Lynch's book, The Lies of Locke Lamora
constable, windfall, sternum, commensurate, disinter, grotty, thresher shark, savvy, miser, reticent, magnanimous, trowel and 301 more...
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whaling terms
Terms defined in the glossary of Clifford W. Ashley's "Yankee Whaler".
advance, adze, after house, after oar, agent, air up, alow, ambergris, apeak, article, away, bailer and 299 more...
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to be sorted
litter, palanquin, aver, catamite, phlox, pliant, modicum, poorthink, cow, decalogue, caveat, dais and 175 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for larboard.
dailyword This word was used in the "Master And Commander" movie. Aug 18, 2012
knitandpurl "Once, in the middle of dessert, he attacked Pimento with a carving knife he had tucked away in his belt. 'Avast! Pirates larboard. Repel boarders,' he shouted, lunging at the surprised man's throat, just as some lemon sherbet was coolly passing down it."
-Tintin in the New World by Frederic Tuten, pp 75-76 Jul 9, 2008