Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The rail around the stern of a vessel.
  • noun The flat upper part of the stern of a vessel, made of wood and often richly carved.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as tafferel; now, as commonly understood (from confusion with the word rail), the rail across the stern of a vessel.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Naut.) The upper part of a ship's stern, which is flat like a table on the top, and sometimes ornamented with carved work; the rail around a ship's stern.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun nautical The curved wooden top of the stern of a sailing man-of-war or East Indiaman, usually carved or decorated.
  • noun nautical The rail around the stern of a ship.
  • noun nautical The deck area at the stern of a vessel.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the railing around the stern of a ship

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of tafferel, carved panel, from Dutch tafereel, panel for carving or painting, from Middle Dutch tafeleel, tafereel, from Old French tablel; see tableau.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

By false alteration of either tafferel or aft + rail.

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Examples

  • That blob you see over the taffrail is a flag ... the North Korean flag, raised in the place of the Stars and Stripes.

    Carrie Douglass, Keith 1991

  • Between the stern end of this house and the taffrail was a small space, thickly grown with camp-stools.

    Idolatry A Romance Julian Hawthorne 1890

  • A light shown over the taffrail was the signal of what he was about to do, and as he clewed up his sails, his consorts followed his example, and all three dropped their anchors within a short distance of each other -- the frigate being on the outside.

    The Pirate of the Mediterranean A Tale of the Sea William Henry Giles Kingston 1847

  • I was still on deck, albeit clinging to the taffrail.

    Atlantic: A Vast Ocean of a Million Stories by Simon Winchester – review Kevin Rushby 2010

  • We have held the north-east trade for days now, and the miles roll off behind us as the patent log whirls and tinkles on the taffrail.

    CHAPTER XIX 2010

  • It was about a month to the Cape, with the taffrail under most of the way, but not too bad until we neared Algoa Bay, when it began to blow fit to sicken Magellan.

    THE NUMBERS 2010

  • He stood with his hands resting on the taffrail gazing at the water boiling up from the stern of the S.S.

    A NOVEL DISCOURSE... 2009

  • He stood with his hands resting on the taffrail gazing at the water boiling up from the stern of the S.S.

    Archive 2009-02-01 2009

  • Chopped away at the captain and when the devil wouldn't let go of the taffrail you chopped off the devil's hands.

    DANCING ON AIR 2009

  • On the other hand, if you want to lean on the taffrail of your ketch and regard the magnificent melancholy sunset of Sirius from the Draschade Ocean, with the rose, cerise and gamboge light playing across the waters, while sipping a Rum Toddy, any world of his would be just the place to do it.

    Reader Challenge #5B - The Coolest Science Fiction Setting (TV/Film) 2006

Comments

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  • From "A Field of Snow on a Slope of the Rosenberg" by Guy Davenport.

    January 19, 2010

  • "Quentin walked to the very stern and looked out over the wake, swept clean and crushed into foam by the weight of their passage. He felt good and right here. He patted the Muntjac's worn old taffrail: unlike most things and most people in Fillory, the Muntjac needed Quentin, and Quentin hadn't let her down."

    The Magician King by Lev Grossman, p 53

    August 19, 2011

  • This word was used in the "Master And Commander" movie.

    September 7, 2012