The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea

Editors: Dear, I. C. B and Kemp, Peter
Publication Year: 2016
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Inc.

Price: Core Collection Only
ISBN: 978-0-19-880050-7
Category: Science - Marine sciences
Image Count: 265
Book Status: Available
Table of Contents

The most comprehensive and authoritative reference book of its kind, the Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea provides coverage of a huge range of topics, from shipbuilding, yachting, diving, marine engineering, and marine mammals, to smuggling, tsunamis, mermaids, and the language and literature of the sea.

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Table of Contents

    • Acknowledgements
    • A
    • Aaron Manby
    • AB
    • aback
    • abaft
    • abalone
    • abandonment
    • ‘abandon ship’
    • abatement of false lights
    • abeam
    • able seaman
    • aboard
    • about
    • above board
    • abox
    • A-bracket
    • abreast
    • a-burton
    • accommodation
    • accommodation ladder
    • account, to go on the
    • a-cockbill, orig. a-cockbell
    • acorn
    • acrostolium
    • acting
    • active list
    • actuaire
    • actuairole
    • acumba
    • Adams, William (1564–1620)
    • admiral
    • Admiralty
    • Admiralty midshipman
    • adornings
    • adrift
    • advantage
    • adventure
    • advice boat
    • adze, or sometimes spelt addes
    • aerodynamics
    • affreightment, contract of.
    • afloat
    • aft
    • afterbody
    • afterguard
    • afterturn
    • age of the moon
    • aground
    • ahead
    • ‘ahoy!’
    • a-hull, or lying a-hull
    • aircraft carriers
    • Alabama
    • ‘Albany beef’
    • albatross.
    • Albemarle, CSS
    • Aldis lamp
    • a-lee
    • Alfred the Great (848–c.900)
    • Algerine pirates
    • all-a-taunt-o
    • alleyway
    • ‘all hands’
    • all in the wind
    • all standing.
    • aloft
    • aloof
    • alow
    • alternating light
    • altitude
    • amain
    • ambergris
    • America
    • America's Cup
    • amidships
    • amplitude
    • Amundsen, Roald (1872–1928)
    • AMVER or Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System
    • anchor.
    • anchorage
    • anchor buoy
    • anchor light
    • anchor warp
    • anchor watch
    • ancient
    • ‘Ancient Mariner, The Rime of the’
    • ‘Andrew’
    • anemometer
    • angary, right of
    • angel-shot
    • angle of cut
    • Anson, Lord George (1697–1762)
    • answering pennant
    • Antarctic Convergence
    • antifouling
    • ‘anti-guggler’
    • anti-rolling devices
    • apeak, orig. apeek
    • apostles
    • apparent wind
    • apron.
    • Argonauts
    • argosy
    • ark
    • arm, to
    • Armada
    • armillary sphere
    • ‘armstrong patent’
    • artemon
    • articles of agreement
    • Articles of War
    • artificial horizon
    • ASDIC
    • ashore
    • aspect ratio
    • astern
    • astrolabe
    • Athene
    • athwartships
    • Atlantis
    • Atlas
    • atoll
    • a-trip.
    • auks
    • aurora
    • auster
    • automatic identification system
    • automatic pilot
    • auxiliary.
    • Avalon
    • avast
    • Avery, John (b. c.1653)
    • awash
    • a-weigh, or aweigh
    • awning.
    • axle-trees.
    • ‘aye aye, sir’
    • azimuth
    • azimuth compass
    • B
    • baboon watch
    • babystay
    • back, to.
    • back a strand, to
    • backboard
    • back splice
    • backstay
    • badge
    • baggywrinkle
    • bagpipe the mizzen, to
    • bag reef
    • bail, to
    • balance, to
    • balancelle
    • Balboa, Vasco Nuñez de (1475–1519)
    • bald headed
    • bale
    • balinger
    • balk
    • Ballard, Robert D. (b. 1942)
    • ballast
    • banjo
    • banker
    • Banks, Sir Joseph (1743–1820)
    • banyan days
    • Barbarossa
    • Barbary pirates
    • barbette
    • barca-longa
    • barcarolle, or barcarole
    • bare boat, or demise, charter
    • Barents, Willem (c.1550–97)
    • bare poles
    • barge
    • bargee
    • bark
    • bark's head
    • barnacle
    • barograph
    • barometer
    • barque, or bark
    • barquentine, or barkenteen
    • ‘barrack stanchion’
    • barratry
    • barricade
    • barricado
    • Bart, Jean (1650–1702)
    • ‘Bartimeus’
    • basilisk
    • Batavia
    • bateloe
    • bathyscaphe
    • bathysphere
    • batten.
    • batten down, to
    • battlecruiser
    • battle honours
    • battleship
    • bawley
    • bay.
    • bayamo
    • beachcomber
    • beacon.
    • beak
    • beakhead
    • beam.
    • beam ends.
    • bean-cod
    • bear, to
    • bearing
    • beat, to.
    • Beaufort Scale
    • becalm, to
    • becket.
    • becue, to
    • bed.
    • bee
    • bee blocks
    • beetle
    • before the mast
    • beitass
    • belay, to
    • belaying pins
    • Belfast, HMS
    • belfry
    • bell buoy
    • Bellerophon, HMS
    • Bellingshausen, Fabian Gottlieb von (1778–1852)
    • bellum
    • belly band
    • bend.
    • bends.
    • beneaped
    • Bentinck.
    • ‘bent on a splice’
    • bergantina
    • Bering or Behring, Vitus (1681–1741)
    • Bermudan rig, or Bermudian rig
    • Bermuda triangle
    • berth.
    • berthing hawsers
    • Berthon boat
    • best bower
    • between decks
    • bezan, or bizan
    • bibbs
    • ‘bible’
    • Big Class
    • bight.
    • bilander, or billander
    • bilboes
    • bilge.
    • bilge keel
    • bill of health
    • bill of lading.
    • bill of sight
    • bill of store
    • billy-boy, or billy-boat
    • Bimini top
    • bingeing
    • binnacle (formerly bittacle)
    • biological oceanography
    • bird's nest.
    • bireme
    • biscuit
    • bite, to
    • bitter
    • bitts
    • bitt stopper
    • ‘Blackbeard’
    • blackbirding
    • black-down, to
    • black jack.
    • black ship
    • black squall
    • ‘black's the white of my eye’
    • black strake
    • Blackwall frigates
    • Blake, Sir Peter (1948–2001)
    • Blake, Robert (1599–1657)
    • blake slip
    • bleed, to.
    • Bligh, William (1754–1817)
    • block
    • blockade
    • block coefficient
    • blockship
    • ‘blood is thicker than water’
    • ‘bloody flag’
    • ‘blowing great guns and small arms’
    • ‘blowing the grampus’
    • blue ensign.
    • bluejacket
    • blue light
    • blue peter
    • ‘blue pigeon’
    • blue riband, or ribband
    • board.
    • boarders
    • Board of Longitude
    • boat
    • boathook.
    • boating
    • Boat People
    • boatswain
    • boatswain's chair
    • boatswain's pipe
    • bobstay
    • body plan
    • boeier, or boier
    • bollard
    • bolster
    • bolt-rope
    • Bombard, Alain (1924–2005)
    • bomb ketch
    • bonaventure
    • bone.
    • bonnet.
    • booby
    • booby-hatch.
    • boom.
    • boom boats
    • boom-irons
    • booms
    • bootneck
    • boottop
    • booty
    • bora
    • bore, or eager
    • ‘born with a silver spoon’
    • boss
    • bo'sun
    • botargo
    • botter
    • ‘bottle’
    • bottlescrew, or turnbuckle
    • bottomry, sometimes also known as bummaree
    • Bougainville, Comte Louis Antoine de (1729–1811)
    • bounty
    • Bounty
    • bow
    • bow-chaser
    • bower anchors
    • bow-grace
    • bowline (pron. bolin as in no).
    • bowse, to
    • bowsprit (pron. bo- as in no), orig. boltsprit
    • bow thruster
    • box-hauling
    • box off, to
    • box the compass, to
    • brace, to
    • ‘brace of shakes’
    • braces
    • brackets
    • brails
    • brake
    • branch
    • Brasil or Brazil, or Hy Brazil
    • brassbounder
    • breach, to.
    • ‘bread-room jack’
    • break
    • break bulk, to
    • breaker.
    • breaking ground
    • break sheer, to.
    • breakwater.
    • breaming
    • breast backstays
    • breeches buoy
    • breeching
    • breech of a block
    • Brendan (c.484–578)
    • bridge
    • bridle.
    • bridle-port
    • brig.
    • brigantine
    • brine, or pickle
    • bring to, to
    • bring up, to
    • Britannia.
    • Britomart
    • ‘Britons, Strike Home’
    • broach to, to
    • broad pennant
    • broadside
    • broke or broken
    • broom.
    • Brunel, Isambard Kingdom (1896–59)
    • bubble horizon
    • buccaneers.
    • Bucentaur
    • ‘bucko’ mate
    • budge-barrel
    • bugeye
    • buggalow, or bugalilo
    • Builders Old Measurement
    • bulbous bow
    • bulge
    • bulk carrier
    • bulkhead
    • ‘bullock’
    • bull rope.
    • bullseye.
    • bully beef
    • bulwark
    • bumboat
    • bumpkin, or bumkin
    • ‘bundleman’
    • bunk
    • bunkers
    • bunt
    • bunting
    • buntline hitch
    • buntlines
    • buoy
    • buoyancy tank, or airtank
    • burgee
    • burgoo
    • burthen
    • Bushnell, David (c.1742–1824)
    • busking
    • buss
    • ‘butcher's bill’
    • butt.
    • Butter-box
    • buttock lines
    • Buys Ballot law
    • by
    • by guess and by God
    • Byng, John (1704–57)
    • by the board
    • by the head
    • by the lee
    • C
    • cabin
    • cabin sole
    • cable.
    • cable-holders
    • cable-laid rope
    • cable ship
    • cable stoppers
    • cable-tier
    • caboose, also camboose
    • Cabot, John, the Anglicized form of Caboto, Giovanni (c.1450–98)
    • cabotage
    • caique
    • caisson
    • calashee, or coolashi, watch,, watch
    • Cales
    • calf.
    • calibre
    • call
    • call sign
    • camber.
    • camel.
    • camship
    • can buoy
    • cannon.
    • canoe
    • cant.
    • cant rope
    • Canute, or Cnut (c.995–1035)
    • canvas.
    • cap
    • Cape Horners.
    • Cape Horn fever
    • caper
    • capital ship
    • capping
    • capsize, to
    • capstan
    • captain
    • captain's servant
    • caravel
    • carbon fibre
    • carcass
    • cardinal mark
    • cardinal points
    • careen, to
    • cargo jack
    • cargo net
    • carley float
    • carlings, or carlines
    • carous
    • carpenter's stopper
    • carrack
    • carrick bend
    • carronade
    • carry, to
    • carrying away
    • cartel.
    • carvel
    • carvel built
    • casco
    • case-shot.
    • cast, to
    • castaway
    • cast off, to
    • cast of the lead
    • cat.
    • catamaran
    • catboat
    • catenary
    • catharpings, or catharpins.
    • Cathay
    • cathead
    • catholes
    • cat-o’-nine-tails
    • catspaw.
    • catwalk
    • caulk, to
    • cavitation
    • ceiling
    • celestial navigation, or astronomical navigation.
    • celestial sphere
    • centreboard
    • centre of buoyancy
    • centre of effort
    • centre of lateral resistance
    • centring chains
    • cesser clause
    • chain
    • chain, or cable, locker
    • chain-plates
    • chains.
    • chain shot
    • Challenger, HMS
    • chambers.
    • ‘channel fever’
    • chantey, or chanty
    • Chapelle, Howard Irving (1900–75)
    • chapelled
    • chapels
    • characteristic
    • charley noble
    • Charlotte Dundas
    • chart
    • chart datum
    • charter
    • chartmaking.
    • chase.
    • chase guns
    • chasse-marée
    • Chatham Chest
    • chearly
    • check, to.
    • cheeks.
    • cheese down, to
    • chemical oceanography
    • Chesapeake, USS
    • chesstrees
    • Chiloé
    • chine
    • Chinese gybe
    • chinse, orig. chinch, to,, to
    • chip log
    • chips.
    • chock, to
    • chock-a-block
    • chocolate gale
    • choking the luff
    • chops
    • Christian, Fletcher (1764–93?)
    • chronometer
    • c.i.f.
    • Cinque Ports
    • Cipangu
    • clamps.
    • clap on, to
    • class
    • classification
    • claw off, to
    • claw ring
    • clean
    • clean bill
    • clean slate
    • clear, to
    • clearance
    • ‘clear lower deck’
    • clear-view screen
    • cleat.
    • clench, to.
    • Clermont
    • clew.
    • clew lines
    • climate change.
    • clinching
    • clinker, or clinch, built
    • clip-hooks
    • clipper
    • close hauled
    • close-quarters.
    • close reefed.
    • clothes
    • clothing
    • cloths
    • cloud formations
    • clove hitch
    • club haul, to
    • clump block
    • coach
    • ‘coach horses’
    • coach-roof
    • coachwhipping
    • coak.
    • coaming
    • coastal navigation.
    • coaster
    • coastguard
    • Coast Pilot
    • coat
    • cobbing
    • coble
    • cockbill, or a-cockbill.
    • cocked hat
    • cockpit.
    • cockscomb
    • cod
    • cod-banger
    • cod-end
    • codline
    • cofferdam.
    • cog.
    • coil
    • coir
    • collar.
    • collier
    • collision mat
    • Colossus
    • colours
    • Colregs
    • colt
    • Columbus, Christopher (1451–1506)
    • ‘combing the cat’
    • come, to
    • come home, to.
    • commander.
    • commission.
    • commissioning pennant
    • commodore
    • common whipping
    • companion
    • companion ladder
    • company
    • compartments.
    • compass
    • compass error
    • compass rose
    • compass timber
    • composite built
    • composite great circle sailing
    • compound engine
    • comprador
    • compressor, or compressor stopper, stopper
    • con, cond, or cun, to,, to
    • concluding line
    • condemn, to
    • condenser
    • Confederate States Navy (CSN)
    • conical buoy
    • conning tower.
    • Conrad, Joseph (1857–1924)
    • Consol
    • Constellation, USS
    • Constitution, USS
    • constructive total loss
    • container ship
    • Continental Navy
    • continental shelf
    • continuous voyage
    • contline
    • contraband
    • convoy
    • Cook, James (1728–79)
    • coordinates
    • copper sheathing
    • coracle
    • coral reefs
    • corbita
    • cord
    • Corinthian
    • Coriolis force
    • corsair
    • corvette
    • Costain gun
    • cot
    • counter
    • counter-brace, to.
    • counter-currents
    • course.
    • Cousteau, Jacques-Yves (1910–97)
    • cove.
    • covering board
    • cow-hitch
    • cowl.
    • coxswain, orig. cockswain
    • crab
    • craft
    • cran
    • crance, crans, or cranze.
    • crane lines.
    • crank.
    • creeper
    • crib
    • crimp
    • cringle
    • crossing the line
    • ‘crossing the T’
    • cross-jack (pron. crojeck or crojick) yard, yard
    • cross lashing
    • cross sea
    • cross-staff, or forestaff
    • crosstrees
    • crowd, to
    • crown.
    • crow's foot
    • crow's nest
    • cruiser, orig. cruizer
    • cruise ship
    • ‘crusher’
    • Crustacea
    • crutch.
    • CSS
    • cubbridge heads
    • cuddy
    • culverin
    • Cunningham
    • currach or curragh
    • currents
    • cut and run, to
    • cutch
    • cutlass
    • cut of his (her) jib, the
    • cut splice
    • cutter
    • cutter rig
    • cutting his painter
    • Cutty Sark
    • cutwater
    • cyclone
    • D
    • dagger
    • dagger-board
    • dahabeeyah, or dahabiah
    • damelopre
    • Dampier, William (1652–1715)
    • Dana, Richard Henry (1815–82)
    • dan buoy
    • dandy-rig
    • Darling, Grace Horsley (1815–42)
    • Darwin, Charles (1809–82)
    • Darwin mounds
    • ‘Davids’
    • Davis's quadrant, or back-staff
    • davits
    • Davy Jones
    • deadeye, orig. dead-man's-eye
    • dead freight
    • dead horse
    • deadlight
    • dead marine
    • dead men
    • dead reckoning
    • dead shares
    • dead water
    • deadweight tonnage
    • deadwood
    • dead work
    • Decca
    • decker
    • deckhouse
    • decks
    • declination
    • decompression sickness
    • deep
    • Deep Scattering Layers (DSLs)
    • degauss, to, or degaussing
    • degree
    • de Horsey rig
    • demurrage
    • departure.
    • depth charge
    • Derbyshire
    • derelict
    • derrick
    • derroterro
    • destroyer
    • deviation
    • devil
    • dghaisa (pron. duyser as in buy)
    • dhow
    • diagonal built
    • diamond knot
    • diamond shrouds
    • diaphone
    • Diaz de Novaes, Bartholomew (c.1455–1500)
    • dickies
    • diesel engine
    • differential global satellite navigation systems
    • digital selective calling (DSC)
    • dinghy
    • dip
    • dipping lug
    • director sight
    • dirk
    • disadvantage
    • Discovery Investigations
    • dismast, to
    • displacement
    • distant signals
    • distress signals
    • ditty box
    • diving.
    • dock
    • dockyard
    • dodger
    • dog, to
    • dogger
    • Dogger Bank
    • doghouse
    • dogs.
    • dog-stopper
    • dog vane
    • dog watches
    • doldrums
    • dolly.
    • dolphin.
    • dolphin striker
    • donkey engine
    • donkey frigate
    • donkey's breakfast
    • Dorade ventilator
    • dory.
    • double bottoms
    • double capstan
    • double-clewed jib
    • double clews, or clues
    • double diagonal build
    • double ender
    • doubling.
    • ‘Down Easter’
    • downhaul
    • Downs
    • drabler, or drabbler
    • drag.
    • drag chains
    • Drake, Sir Francis (c.1543–96)
    • Drake's drum
    • draught.
    • draw, to.
    • Dreadnought
    • dredge
    • dredger
    • dress ship, to
    • drift.
    • drifter
    • drift net
    • drive, to.
    • driver.
    • drogue
    • dromon, or dromond
    • drop keel.
    • drown the miller, to
    • drumhead
    • dry-dock
    • dub, or dubb, to
    • ducking at the yardarm
    • ‘duck up’
    • dugout
    • DUKW
    • Dulcibella
    • dumb barge
    • dunnage
    • dwt
    • ‘dynaship’
    • E
    • eagre
    • earing
    • ease, to, or easy
    • East India Company
    • East Indiamen
    • ebb
    • echinoderms
    • echo sounder
    • ecliptic
    • eddy
    • eels
    • electric propulsion
    • electronic charts
    • El Niño
    • embargo
    • embark, to
    • engines
    • ensign.
    • enter, to.
    • Enterprize
    • entrepôt
    • entry
    • environmental issues.
    • ephemeris
    • EPIRB, or Electronic Position Indicator Radio Beacon
    • equinoctial
    • Erik the Red (fl.985)
    • esnecca, or snekkja
    • establishment of the port
    • Eugenie
    • evaporators
    • even keel.
    • Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
    • Execution Dock
    • exploration by sea
    • explosion vessel
    • eye.
    • eyebolts
    • F
    • fag-end
    • faggots
    • fag out, to
    • fair
    • fairlead
    • fairway
    • fall
    • fall off, to
    • false fire
    • false keel
    • fancy line.
    • Fanny Adams
    • fantail
    • fardage
    • farthell, to
    • fashion pieces
    • fast
    • fathom
    • fay, to
    • feather, to.
    • feaze, to
    • felucca
    • fender
    • fend off, to
    • ferry
    • fetch, to
    • fid.
    • fiddle
    • fiddle block
    • fiddlehead bow
    • Fiddler's Green
    • fiddley
    • fife rails.
    • fighting instructions
    • ‘Fighting Téméraire’
    • fights
    • figurehead
    • figure of eight knot
    • filibuster
    • fill, to
    • ‘fire and lights’
    • fireships
    • fireworks
    • First Fleet
    • fish
    • fish, to.
    • fisheries
    • fisherman's bend
    • fishing boat
    • fishing fleet.
    • fitting out
    • Fitzroy, Robert (1805–65)
    • fix
    • fixed and flashing light
    • fixed light
    • flag
    • flag etiquette
    • flag rank
    • flagship
    • flags of convenience
    • flake, or fake
    • flare.
    • flashing light
    • flatboat
    • fleet.
    • fleet train
    • Flemish horse
    • flense, to
    • Flinders, Matthew (1774–1814)
    • floating battery
    • floating dock
    • float plan
    • flogging round the fleet
    • flog the glass, to
    • flood
    • floor
    • flota
    • flotilla
    • flotsam.
    • flowers of the wind
    • flowing.
    • fluke.
    • fluky
    • flush deck
    • fly.
    • fly-boat
    • fly-by-night
    • Flying Dutchman, the
    • flying jib
    • f.o.b.
    • fo‘c'sle
    • fog-buoy
    • foghorn
    • fog signals.
    • foot
    • ‘foot it in’
    • footropes
    • fore-and-aft rig.
    • forebitter
    • forecastle, (pron. fo‘c'sle)
    • forefoot
    • fore-ganger.
    • foregirt, or fargood
    • foreguy
    • Foreland, North and South
    • forelock
    • fore-reach
    • foresail
    • fore-sheets
    • forestay
    • Forester, Cecil Scott (1899–1966)
    • fore-triangle
    • foreturn
    • forge over, to.
    • former
    • Fortunus
    • forward (pron. forrard)
    • fothering
    • foul
    • foul, or fouled, anchor.
    • fouling.
    • founder, to
    • fox
    • Fram
    • frame
    • Franklin, Sir John (1786–1847)
    • frap, to
    • free.
    • freeboard
    • freezing
    • freight
    • Frenchman
    • ‘freshening his hawse’
    • freshes
    • Friendship sloop
    • frigate
    • Frobisher, or Forbisher, Sir Martin (c.1535–94)
    • frocking
    • front.
    • full and by
    • ‘full sea’
    • fulmars
    • Fulton, Robert (1765–1815)
    • furl, to
    • furniture
    • furring
    • futtock
    • futtock shrouds, or puttock shrouds
    • G
    • Gabbard, the
    • Gades
    • gaff
    • gaff rig
    • gage, sometimes gauge
    • gale
    • galizabra
    • galleass, or galleasse
    • galleon
    • gallery
    • galley.
    • galley frigate
    • galley pepper
    • galligaskins
    • galliot
    • gallows.
    • Gama, Vasco da (c.1460–1524)
    • gammon iron
    • gammon lashing, or gammoning
    • gang
    • gangway
    • gantline
    • gantlope, or gauntlope (pron. gantlet)
    • garboard, or garboard strake
    • garland.
    • garnet
    • ‘garters’
    • gasket
    • gas-turbine engines
    • gate vessel
    • gaussin error
    • general-at-sea
    • general average
    • general chase
    • Gennaker
    • genoa
    • gentlemen captains
    • geological oceanography
    • German mile
    • get spliced, to
    • ghoster
    • ghosting
    • gig
    • gimbals
    • gimblet, to, or gimbleting
    • gin block
    • gingerbread, or gingerbread work
    • gin palace
    • gird, to
    • girdle
    • girt.
    • glass
    • Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)
    • global positioning system
    • globe
    • globular projection
    • Gloire
    • glut.
    • GMDSS
    • gnomonic chart
    • ‘gobbie’
    • going about
    • goke
    • gondola
    • gong buoy
    • Goodwin Sands, the
    • gooseneck
    • goose-winged
    • goose-wings
    • gores
    • GPS, or global positioning system
    • grab
    • grain
    • Grand Banks, the
    • Grand Fleet
    • grapnel, sometimes grapple
    • grass-line
    • graticule.
    • grave, to
    • graving dock
    • Great Barrier Reef
    • Great Britain
    • great circle
    • great circle sailing
    • Great Eastern
    • Great Harry
    • Great Western
    • Greek fire
    • green men
    • Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
    • gregale
    • Grenville, Sir Richard (1542–91)
    • ‘Greta Garbo’
    • grid, or gridiron
    • gripe, to
    • gripes
    • grog
    • ‘grog-blossom’
    • gromet, or grummett
    • grommet (pron. grummet)
    • ground tackle
    • ground tier
    • group
    • grow, to
    • growler
    • GRP
    • GRT
    • guarda-costa
    • guardrail
    • guard-ship
    • gudgeon, orig. googing.
    • guerre de course
    • guest-rope
    • gufah, or gopher
    • Gulf Stream
    • gull
    • gull, to
    • gun
    • gunboat
    • gundalow, or gundelo
    • gunner's daughter
    • gunport
    • gunroom
    • gun tackle
    • gunter rig
    • gunwale (pron. gunnel).
    • guy.
    • gyassi, or gaiassa
    • gybe, or jibe, to
    • gyn
    • gypsy
    • gyroscopic, or gyro, compass
    • H
    • hack watch
    • Hadley's reflecting quadrant
    • Hakluyt, Richard (pron. Hacklit) (c.1552–1616)
    • half beams
    • half-deck
    • half hitch
    • half-musket shot
    • ‘half seas over’
    • halyards, or halliards
    • hambro line
    • hammock
    • hance
    • hand, to
    • hand-bearing compass
    • hand over hand
    • handsomely
    • handy billy
    • hank.
    • Hanseatic League
    • harbour dues
    • harden in, to
    • harmattan
    • harness cask
    • harpings, or harpens.
    • hatch
    • haul, to
    • Hawkins, Sir John (1532–95)
    • hawse
    • hawse bag
    • hawsehole
    • hawse-pieces
    • hawsepipe
    • hawser
    • hawser-laid rope
    • haze, to
    • head
    • headboard
    • head-rope
    • heads
    • headsail
    • heart
    • ‘Heart of Oak’
    • heave to, to.
    • heaving line
    • heel.
    • heeling error
    • heeling moment
    • Hellespont
    • helm
    • hemp
    • hengst
    • Henry Grâce à Dieu
    • Henry the Navigator (1394–1460)
    • hermaphrodite brig
    • Herreshoff, Nathanael Greene (1848–1938)
    • herring
    • Heyerdahl, Thor (1914–2002)
    • Highfield lever
    • high seas
    • High Seas Fleet
    • Hispaniola
    • hitch
    • HMS
    • hog.
    • hoist.
    • hold
    • holiday
    • holystone
    • hood
    • hood-ends
    • hooker.
    • hoop.
    • hopper
    • Horatio Hornblower
    • horizon
    • horizontal sextant angle
    • hornpipe
    • horns.
    • horse.
    • horse latitudes
    • horsing iron
    • ‘hot chase’
    • hounds
    • hour angle
    • house, to
    • hovercraft
    • hoy
    • huddock
    • Hudson, Henry (b. c.1565, d. after June 1611)
    • hulk.
    • hull.
    • hullock
    • husband, or ship's husband
    • Hy Brazil
    • hydrodynamics
    • hydrofoil
    • hydrography
    • hydroplanes
    • hydrothermal vents
    • hyperbolic navigation system.
    • I
    • IALA maritime buoyage system
    • ice
    • ice-breaker
    • idlers
    • impressment
    • inertial navigation.
    • Inmarsat
    • in soundings, or on soundings.
    • in stays
    • intercept
    • International Code of Signals
    • International Congress of Maritime Museums (ICMM)
    • International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)
    • International Date Line
    • International Lifeboat Federation (ILF)
    • international maritime law
    • International Maritime Organization (IMO)
    • International Metre Class
    • International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
    • International Rule
    • International Sailing Federation (ISAF)
    • Irish horse
    • Irish pennants
    • ironclads
    • irons.
    • irradiation
    • isobath
    • isogonic lines
    • isolated danger mark
    • J
    • jack.
    • jackanapes coat
    • jackass.
    • jackass-barque
    • jack in the basket
    • Jack of the Dust
    • jackstaff
    • jackstay
    • Jack tar
    • jackyard
    • jackyard topsail
    • Jacob's ladder.
    • jaegt
    • Jamaica discipline
    • jaw.
    • J-class yachts
    • jeers
    • jellyfish
    • jetboats
    • jetsam
    • jettison, to
    • jetty
    • jewel blocks
    • jew's harp
    • jib
    • jib-boom
    • jibe, to
    • jib-headed topsail
    • jib-of-jibs
    • jigger.
    • jigger-mast
    • jockey pole
    • joggle shackle
    • ‘jollies’
    • jolly-boat
    • Jolly Roger
    • Jonah
    • Jones, John Paul (1747–92)
    • Jubilee Sailing Trust
    • jugle, or joggle
    • ‘jumbo’
    • jumper
    • jumping, or jumper, wire
    • junk.
    • junk rig.
    • jury rig
    • jylson, or jillson, block
    • K
    • kamal
    • kamikaze
    • kapal
    • kayak
    • K-class submarine
    • Kearsage, USS
    • keckle, to
    • kedge
    • keel.
    • keel blocks
    • keel-hauling
    • keelson, or kelson
    • kelpie
    • Kentish Knock
    • kentledge
    • ketch
    • kevel, sometimes known as kennet
    • Kevlar
    • key, or cay
    • khamsin, or kamsin
    • Khizr
    • kicking strap
    • Kidd, or Kid, Captain William (c.1645–1701)
    • Kiel Canal
    • kellick, or killock
    • kingpost
    • king spoke
    • King's Letter boy
    • kite.
    • klipper
    • knarr
    • knee
    • knightheads
    • knock down, to
    • knot.
    • kraken
    • krill
    • ‘kye’
    • L
    • L.
    • labour, to
    • lace.
    • ladder.
    • lade, to
    • lagan
    • lagoon
    • laid
    • laminated construction
    • Lanby buoy
    • land breeze
    • landmark
    • landsmen, or landmen
    • langrel, or langrace, or, in American usage, langrage
    • lanyard
    • lapstrake
    • larboard
    • ‘larbolins’, or ‘larbolians’
    • large
    • lash, to
    • lask, to
    • laskets
    • lateen rig
    • lateral mark
    • latitude
    • launch.
    • launching
    • lay.
    • lay days
    • lay up, to.
    • lazaretto, lazaret, lazarette.
    • lazy guy
    • lazyjacks
    • lazy painter
    • leading block
    • leading mark
    • leading wind
    • lead line
    • league
    • leatherneck
    • lee
    • leeboards.
    • leech
    • lee-fang
    • ‘lee-oh’
    • leeskaertan
    • leeward (pron. loo’ard)
    • leeway
    • leg
    • legs
    • lem, to, or lemming
    • lemsteraak
    • Lesseps, Ferdinand de (1805–94)
    • let fly, to.
    • ‘let go and haul’, or ‘afore haul’
    • letter of marque
    • levanter
    • leviathan
    • Lewis, David (1917–2003)
    • liberty
    • Liberty ships
    • lie to, to, or lying a-try
    • lieutenant
    • lifeboat
    • lifelines
    • lifesaving.
    • lifts
    • lighter
    • lighthouse
    • light lists
    • lightship
    • ‘light to’
    • lignum vitae
    • limbers
    • ‘Limey’
    • line of battle
    • line of bearing
    • line officers
    • liner
    • lines
    • linings
    • list
    • lizard
    • Ljungstrom rig
    • Lloyd's
    • Lloyd's Register
    • load line
    • loblolly boy
    • lobscouse
    • lodeman
    • lodestar
    • lodestone, or loadstone
    • log.
    • log book
    • loggerhead.
    • log-line
    • loll
    • longboat
    • long clothes
    • longitude
    • long-jawed
    • long-lining
    • longship
    • long splice
    • loof.
    • loom.
    • loose, to
    • loose cannon
    • loose-footed
    • Loran-C.
    • lorcha
    • Lord High Admiral
    • Lord Mayor's Men
    • low and aloft
    • lower deck
    • lubber's hole
    • lubber's line, or point
    • luff
    • luff tackle
    • lug.
    • lugger
    • lugsail
    • lunar distance
    • lunar parallax
    • lunch hook
    • Lusitania
    • lutchet
    • Lutine bell
    • Lyonesse
    • M
    • macaroni lug
    • macaroni mate
    • Madoc
    • Mae West
    • Maelduin, The Voyage of
    • maelstrom
    • Magellan, Ferdinand (c.1480–1521)
    • magellanic clouds
    • magnetic compass
    • magnitude
    • Mahan, Alfred Thayer (1840–1914)
    • mainsail
    • ‘mainsail haul’
    • make and mend
    • make her number, to
    • Mallows
    • manger
    • mangroves
    • manifest
    • manila
    • manta ray (Manta birostris)
    • man the yards, to, or man ship, to
    • marconi rig
    • Marco Polo (c.1254–1324)
    • Marcq Saint-Hilaire method
    • Marder, Arthur Jacob (1910–80)
    • mare clausum, or ‘Closed Sea’
    • marina
    • marine and underwater archaeology.
    • marine biology
    • marine literature.
    • marine mammals
    • marine meteorology
    • marine painting.
    • marine pharmaceuticals
    • marine plants
    • marine reptiles
    • marines
    • Marine Society
    • Marin-Marie
    • Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)
    • maritime museums and museum ships
    • mark
    • marl, or marle, to
    • marlin
    • marline
    • marline spike
    • marling hitch
    • maroon, to
    • MARPOL
    • marry, to
    • Marryat, Frederick (1792–1848)
    • martingale.
    • martnets
    • Mary Celeste
    • Mary Rose
    • Masefield, John Edward (1878–1967)
    • mast
    • mast coat
    • master
    • master-at-arms
    • master's mate
    • mast ship
    • mate.
    • Matthew Walker knot
    • Maury, Matthew Fontaine (1806–73)
    • ‘mayday’
    • Mayflower
    • Melville, Herman (1819–91)
    • men-in-lieu
    • Mercator projection
    • merchant marine
    • mercy ships
    • meridian
    • mermaids
    • Merrimac, USS
    • merrow
    • merry dancers
    • Merry Men of May
    • messenger.
    • metacentric height
    • meteorology
    • middle ground
    • middle passage
    • midshipman
    • millibar
    • mirage
    • mistral
    • mitre
    • mizzen
    • Moby-Dick
    • moidore
    • mole
    • molluscs
    • mollymawk
    • monitor
    • monkey.
    • monkey block
    • monkey jacket
    • monkey's fist
    • monk's seam
    • monsoon
    • moon-lore.
    • moonrakers
    • moor, to
    • mooring
    • Morgan, Sir Henry (c.1635–88)
    • Morse code
    • moses
    • Mother Carey's Chickens
    • motor yachts
    • moulding
    • mould-loft
    • moulds
    • mouse
    • mudhook
    • Mulberry Harbours.
    • multihull
    • murderer
    • muster, to
    • mutiny
    • MV
    • MY
    • Mylar
    • N
    • ‘naked’
    • ‘Nancy Dawson’
    • Nansen, Fridtjof (1861–1930)
    • nao
    • Narrow Seas
    • National Coastwatch Institution (NCI)
    • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
    • nautical almanac
    • nautical mile
    • Nautilus
    • nautophone
    • naval architecture
    • naval hoods or whoods
    • navel pipe
    • navicert
    • navigate, to
    • navigation
    • Navigation Acts
    • navigational warnings
    • navigation lights
    • navigator
    • NAVTEX.
    • navy
    • neal-to
    • neap tides
    • nef
    • Nelson, Horatio, first Viscount (1758–1805)
    • Neptune
    • Nereides
    • Nereus
    • net register tonnage
    • nettings.
    • nettle, sometimes written as knittle.
    • New Ironsides, USS
    • nigger heads
    • nip.
    • nipper.
    • Noah's Ark
    • nocturnal
    • Nore, the
    • Norman.
    • ‘no room to swing a cat’
    • North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)
    • north magnetic pole
    • North-West Passage
    • notices to mariners
    • nugger, or nuggar
    • ‘number’
    • nun buoy
    • nut
    • O
    • oakum
    • oar
    • O’Brian, Patrick (1914–2000)
    • occulting light
    • Oceania
    • Oceanides, or Oceanitides
    • ocean liners
    • oceanographic institutes.
    • oceanography
    • ocean racing
    • oceans.
    • Oceanus
    • octant
    • Odysseus
    • offing
    • offshore oil and gas.
    • off soundings
    • off the wind
    • oldster
    • Oleron, the Laws of
    • Omega
    • one-design class
    • ‘on the beach’
    • on the wind
    • open hawse
    • order of sailing
    • ordinary
    • ordinary seaman
    • orlop, orig. over-lop
    • Oropesa sweep
    • otter
    • outhaul
    • outlicker, outligger, or outleager
    • outrigger.
    • overfall
    • overhaul, to.
    • over-raked
    • overtaking light
    • ox-eye
    • oxter plate
    • P
    • Pacific iron.
    • packet
    • paddle steamer
    • paddle-wheel boat
    • painter
    • pair of oars
    • palm.
    • pampero
    • Panama Canal
    • Panama plate
    • papagayo
    • parallax.
    • paraselene
    • paravane
    • parbuckle
    • parcel, to
    • pareja
    • parhelion
    • ‘parish-rigged’
    • Park Avenue boom
    • Parliament, or parliamentary, heel
    • parrel, or parral
    • partners
    • part of the ship
    • passarado
    • passaree
    • passat
    • passenger ship
    • passerelle
    • paternoster
    • paunch, or panch
    • pavesse
    • pawls
    • pay, to
    • pay off, to.
    • pay out, to
    • peak.
    • Peary, Robert Edwin (1856–1920)
    • peggy-mast
    • pelorus
    • Pelorus Jack
    • pendant.
    • penguin.
    • pennant, sometimes written as pendant
    • pennon
    • Pepys, Samuel (1633–1703)
    • periagua
    • periplus, or periplous
    • Perry, Matthew Calbraith (1794–1858)
    • Peter the Great (1672–1725)
    • petty officer
    • petty warrant
    • PFD
    • phosphorescence
    • physical oceanography
    • picaroon, or pickaroon
    • pickle.
    • pieces of eight
    • pier
    • pierhead jump
    • pig yoke
    • pillage
    • pillar buoy
    • pillow
    • pilot.
    • pilotage
    • pinch, to
    • pink
    • pinky
    • pinnace.
    • pinrail
    • pintle
    • pipe, to
    • pipe cot
    • pipe down
    • piping the side
    • piracy
    • pirogue, or piragua
    • pitch
    • pitchpole, to
    • plain sailing
    • plane, to
    • plank sheer
    • plankton
    • plat, to.
    • plate.
    • pledget
    • Plimsoll Line
    • plotting sheet
    • plug.
    • plush
    • PLUTO
    • pocket battleship
    • pod
    • point.
    • points of sailing
    • polacre
    • Polaris
    • poleaxe
    • Pole Star
    • pollution
    • Polo, Marco
    • ‘Pompey’
    • pontoon.
    • poop.
    • poop royal
    • poor John
    • port.
    • porthole
    • port-last, or portoise
    • portolano
    • ports
    • port sills, or cills
    • port tack
    • Portuguese man-of-war
    • portulan, or portolan, chart.
    • Poseidon.
    • POSH
    • position line
    • post-bark
    • post-captain
    • Potemkin
    • pouches
    • powder monkey
    • powerboats
    • pram, praam, or prame.
    • pratique
    • press gang
    • preventer
    • prick, to.
    • prime, to
    • prime meridian
    • priming iron
    • prismatic coefficient
    • privateer
    • prize
    • prize money
    • proa
    • propeller
    • propulsion pod
    • protection
    • protest.
    • proviso.
    • prow
    • puddening
    • puffer
    • pull, to
    • pulpit.
    • pump
    • punt.
    • purchase
    • purser.
    • purse seine net
    • pushpit
    • Q
    • Q-ship
    • quadrant
    • quadrilateral jib
    • quadruple expansion engine
    • quarantine
    • quarter
    • quarter bands
    • quarter-bill
    • quarter blocks.
    • quarter-cloths
    • quarterdeck
    • quarter gallery
    • quarter-gunner
    • quartermaster
    • quatuor maria
    • quay
    • quick flashing light
    • quickwork
    • quilting
    • quintant
    • quoin
    • R
    • rabbet
    • rabelo
    • race.
    • racing rules.
    • rack, to
    • racon
    • radar
    • radar reflector
    • raddle
    • radio beacon
    • radio direction finder
    • raffee
    • raft.
    • rake.
    • Raleigh, or Ralegh, Sir Walter c.1552–1618)
    • ram.
    • ramark
    • ram schooner
    • randan
    • random range
    • range, to
    • Ransome, Arthur (1884–1967)
    • rate.
    • rate of change
    • rating.
    • ratline
    • rattle down, to
    • razee, or rasee
    • reach.
    • ‘ready about’
    • reciprocating engine
    • reckoning
    • red ensign.
    • red tides
    • reef.
    • reef-band
    • reef-cringles
    • reef knot
    • reef-points
    • reef-tackle
    • reeming iron
    • reeve, to
    • reformado, or reformade
    • refraction
    • regime
    • register ship
    • register tonnage
    • regulating captain
    • relative bearings
    • relieving tackles.
    • remote sensing
    • render, to.
    • rendezvous
    • replica ship
    • reprisal
    • research ships
    • respondentia
    • Revenge, HMS
    • revenue cutter
    • rhumb line
    • RIB
    • ribband
    • ribs
    • rickers
    • Riddle of the Sands, The
    • ride, to
    • riders.
    • ridge rope
    • riding light
    • riding slip
    • rig.
    • rigger
    • rigging
    • rigging screw
    • rigol
    • ringtail
    • rising
    • RMS
    • RNLI
    • RNR
    • RNVR
    • roach
    • Roaring Forties
    • robands (pron. robbins)
    • Roberts, Bartholomew (1682–1722)
    • robinet
    • Robinson Crusoe
    • rocket
    • roding
    • rogue knot
    • ‘Rogue's March’
    • rogue's yarn
    • roller furler
    • rolling hitch
    • rope
    • rope clutch
    • ro-ro (roll-on roll-off) ship
    • rose box
    • rose lashing
    • rotating rig
    • round, to.
    • round house
    • round of a rope
    • round seizing
    • round ship
    • round turn and two half hitches
    • rouse in, to
    • rouse out, to
    • rov
    • rove
    • rover
    • rowlock
    • royal
    • royal dockyards
    • Royal George, loss of the
    • Royal Yachting Association
    • rubber
    • rubbing strake
    • rudder
    • Rule of the Road
    • run
    • runners
    • running free
    • running rigging
    • run the easting down, to
    • rutter
    • S
    • saddle
    • safe water mark
    • sag, to.
    • saic
    • sail burton
    • sailing
    • sailing directions
    • sailing thwart
    • sailmaker's stitching
    • sailmaker's whipping
    • sailor-by-the-wind
    • sailors’ dress.
    • sails
    • sail training
    • St Elmo's Fire
    • salinity
    • Sallee pirates
    • sally port.
    • salt horse
    • salutes at sea
    • salvage.
    • sampan
    • samson post.
    • sandbagger
    • sand-glass
    • SAR
    • Sargasso Sea
    • sargasso weed
    • satellite navigation
    • Savannah
    • save-all
    • scampavia
    • scandalize, to
    • scant
    • scantlings
    • Scapa Flow
    • ‘Scarborough warning’
    • scarf, or scarph
    • scend (pron. send)
    • schnorkel, or snorkel.
    • schokker
    • schooner
    • scope.
    • score.
    • scotsman
    • Scott, Robert Falcon (1868–1912)
    • scow
    • screw slip
    • scrimshaw
    • SCUBA
    • scud, to
    • scull, to
    • sculler
    • scupper, to
    • scuppers
    • scurvy
    • scuttle.
    • scuttle, or scuttled, butt
    • Scylla and Charybdis
    • sea anchor
    • Sea Beggars
    • seabirds.
    • seaboat
    • Seacat
    • seacock
    • Sea Fencibles
    • sea gods and goddesses
    • seahorses
    • sea level.
    • sealing
    • Sea Lord
    • seam.
    • seamanship
    • seaman's quadrant
    • sea-mark
    • sea-pie
    • seas.
    • sea songs
    • seaweeds
    • sections
    • seel, to
    • seize, to
    • seizing
    • Selkirk, Alexander (1676–1721)
    • selvagee
    • semaphore
    • semi-diameter
    • sepulchral ships
    • serang
    • serpentine
    • serve, orig. sarve, to
    • serving mallet
    • set.
    • settee
    • settle, to
    • sewed, (pron. sued)
    • sextant
    • shackle.
    • Shackleton, Sir Ernest Henry (1874–1922)
    • shake.
    • ‘shake a cloth in the wind, to’
    • ‘shake a leg’
    • shake out a reef, to
    • shakings
    • shallop.
    • shamal
    • Shamrock
    • shan
    • shanghai, to.
    • shank
    • shanty, or chantey
    • shape, to
    • sharks
    • Sharp, or Sharpe, Bartholomew (c.1650–88)
    • sharpie.
    • sharpshooter.
    • sharp up
    • shear.
    • sheave
    • sheepshank
    • sheer.
    • sheer draught
    • sheer legs, or sheers
    • sheer pole
    • sheer strake
    • sheet.
    • sheet anchor
    • sheet bend
    • shell.
    • shellback
    • shellfish
    • Shelvocke, George (1675–1742)
    • shift
    • shifter
    • shifting boards
    • ship
    • ship broker
    • shipbuilding.
    • ship-money fleets
    • ship of the line
    • ship preservation
    • ship rigged
    • ship's bell.
    • shipshape and Bristol fashion
    • ship's number
    • shipwrecks
    • shiver.
    • ‘shiver my timbers’
    • shoal.
    • shoe.
    • shoot, to
    • shore
    • short
    • shorten in, to
    • short splice
    • shot
    • Shovel, or Shovell Sir Clowdisley (1659–1707)
    • ‘show a leg’, or ‘shake a leg’
    • shroud-laid rope
    • shrouds
    • sickbay
    • side lever engine
    • siding
    • sight
    • signal letters
    • signals at sea
    • sill, sometimes written as cill.
    • simoon
    • Simpson's Rules
    • ‘Sinbad the Sailor’
    • ‘singeing the King of Spain's beard’
    • sinnet, synet, sennet, sennit, or sinnit
    • SINS
    • Sirens, or Sirenes
    • Sirius
    • sirocco, or scirocco
    • sisal
    • sister blocks
    • six water grog
    • skeet, or skeat
    • skeg
    • skid-booms, skids, or skid beams
    • skiff
    • skilly
    • skillygalee, or skillygolee
    • skimming dish
    • skipjack
    • skipper
    • ‘skipper's daughters’
    • skylight
    • skysail
    • slab-lines
    • slack water
    • slatch
    • slave trade.
    • slicks
    • slings
    • slip hook
    • slippery hitch
    • slipway
    • Slocum, Joshua (1844–c.1910)
    • sloop.
    • slush
    • smack
    • Smith, Sir Francis Pettit (1808–74)
    • smiting line
    • SMS
    • smuggle, to
    • snatch block
    • snotter
    • snotty
    • snow
    • snub, to.
    • Society for Nautical Research
    • SOLAS
    • ‘soldier's wind’
    • sole
    • sonar
    • songs
    • son of a gun
    • ‘SOS’
    • sound, to.
    • sounding.
    • sounding machine
    • sounding rod
    • Southern Cross
    • South Sea Bubble
    • South Seas
    • spall, to
    • span.
    • Spanish Armada
    • Spanish burton
    • Spanish Main
    • Spanish reef
    • Spanish windlass
    • spanker
    • spar
    • spar buoy
    • spar deck
    • spar torpedo
    • speak, to, or speak to a ship, to
    • special mark
    • spectacle iron, or plate
    • spencer
    • spend, to.
    • Sperry, Elmer Ambrose (1860–1930)
    • spider.
    • spider band
    • spile, to
    • spill, to
    • spilling lines
    • spinnaker.
    • spirketting
    • spitfire jib
    • Spithead
    • splice, to
    • spliced, to get
    • splice the main brace, to
    • spoil ground
    • spoke
    • sponges
    • sponson
    • spoon, to
    • spreaders.
    • spring.
    • spring a leak, to
    • spring stays
    • spring tides
    • sprit
    • spritsail.
    • spunyarn
    • spurling line
    • squadron
    • squadronal colours
    • squall
    • square
    • square rig
    • squid
    • SS
    • stability
    • stabilizers
    • staghorn
    • stanchions
    • standing lug
    • standing part
    • standing rigging
    • starboard
    • starboard tack
    • ‘starbolins’
    • starshell
    • start, to.
    • stateroom
    • station pointer
    • stationaire
    • stave, to
    • staves
    • stay.
    • stayband
    • staysail
    • steaming lights
    • steam propulsion.
    • steam-turbine engine
    • steer, to
    • steerage.
    • steerage way
    • steering gear.
    • steering oar
    • steeve
    • stem.
    • step
    • stern
    • sternboard
    • sternpost
    • stern rope
    • sternsheets
    • sternwalk
    • sternway
    • stevedore
    • stiff.
    • stinkpot
    • stirrups
    • stock
    • stocks
    • stone frigate
    • stop, to
    • stopper
    • stopper knot
    • storm
    • storm signals
    • stowaway
    • strake
    • strand.
    • stray line
    • stream, to
    • stream anchor
    • stretcher.
    • strike, to
    • strike down, to
    • stringer
    • stripped to the girt-line
    • strop
    • studding sails (pron. stuns’ls)
    • submarine
    • sucking the monkey
    • Suez Canal.
    • Sumner position line
    • ‘sundowner’
    • ‘sun is over the yardarm, the’
    • supercargo
    • superstitions of sailors.
    • superstructure
    • surface effect ship
    • surf boat
    • surge, to.
    • swallow
    • ‘swallow the anchor, to’
    • SWATH ship (Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull)
    • sway
    • sweat, to
    • sweep
    • swell
    • swifter.
    • swim, to
    • swing a ship, to
    • swing keel
    • synoptic chart
    • T
    • tabernacle
    • table, to
    • tabling
    • tack.
    • tackle (pron. taykle)
    • tackline.
    • tactical diameter
    • taffrail.
    • tail, to
    • Talbot, Mary Anne (1778–1808)
    • tall ships
    • Talurit® splicing
    • tan, to
    • tanker
    • tar
    • tarpaulin, orig. tarpawling
    • tarpaulin captain
    • tarpaulin muster
    • tarry-breeks
    • tartan, or tartane
    • Tasman, Abel Janszoon (c.1603–59)
    • tattoo.
    • taunt
    • taut
    • taut wire measurement
    • Teach, or Thatch, Edward (d. 1718)
    • tea clippers
    • telltale.
    • tender
    • teredo
    • Terra Australis Incognita
    • territorial waters
    • Tethys
    • Thames Measurement
    • thermocline
    • Thermopylae
    • Thetis
    • thimble
    • thole pin
    • Thomas W. Lawson
    • Thomson, William, first Baron Kelvin (1824–1907)
    • thorough foot, to.
    • ‘three sheets in the wind’
    • ‘three sisters’
    • throat
    • throat halyards
    • throat seizings
    • thrum, to
    • thumb cleat
    • thumb knot
    • Thurot, François (1726–60)
    • thwart
    • ticket
    • tidal atlas
    • tidal power.
    • ‘tiddley’
    • tide-race
    • tide-rip
    • tide-rode
    • tides
    • tideway
    • tiding over
    • tier.
    • tierce
    • tiller
    • tiller ropes
    • tilt
    • timber heads
    • timber hitch
    • timbers
    • timenoguy
    • timoneer
    • Titanic
    • tjalk
    • tjotter
    • toggle.
    • ‘Tom Bowling’ or ‘Tom Bowline’
    • tonnage
    • top
    • top-armours
    • top-chain
    • topgallant mast
    • topgallant sail
    • topgallant yard
    • topmark
    • topmast
    • topmen, or yardmen
    • topping lift
    • topsail.
    • topsail yard
    • topsides.
    • torsion
    • total loss
    • touching
    • tow.
    • towage
    • trabacolo, or trabaccolo
    • track.
    • trade winds
    • traffic separation schemes
    • trail-board
    • train
    • training ships
    • train-tackle
    • tramontana
    • tramp ship
    • trane, or train, oil
    • transom.
    • transport
    • traveller.
    • traverse board
    • traverse table
    • trawler
    • trawls
    • treasure ship.
    • treenails (pron. trennels or trunnels)
    • trench
    • trestle-trees
    • triatic
    • trice up, to
    • trick
    • trident
    • trim.
    • trimaran
    • Trinity House
    • trip an anchor, to
    • triple expansion engine
    • tripping line
    • trireme
    • Triton
    • tropical storms
    • trot
    • truck.
    • true
    • trundle-head
    • truss
    • trysail
    • trysail mast
    • try works
    • tsunami
    • tuck
    • tug
    • tumble-home, or tumbling-home
    • tun
    • tuna
    • turk's head
    • turnbuckle
    • turret
    • turtle-boat
    • turtle deck
    • twice laid.
    • ‘two blocks’
    • tye
    • typhoon
    • U
    • U-boat
    • ullage.
    • umiak
    • Una rig
    • under bare poles
    • under-run, to
    • underwater vehicles
    • under way
    • underwriter
    • United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
    • Universal Rule
    • unstayed rig
    • up and down
    • ‘up funnel, down screw’
    • uphroe, or euphroe.
    • upper deck
    • upwelling
    • urca or uxer.
    • US Coast Guard (USCG)
    • US Power Squadrons (USPS)
    • USS
    • US Sailing Association (US Sailing)
    • V
    • vail, to
    • vakka
    • vale, to
    • van
    • Vancouver, George (1757–98)
    • vane.
    • vane self-steering gear
    • vangs
    • variation
    • Vasa
    • veer, to.
    • veer and haul, to
    • Verne, Jules (1828–1905)
    • Verrazzano, Giovanni da (1485–1528)
    • vertex
    • vertical sextant angle
    • very lights
    • Vespucci, Amerigo (1454–1512)
    • Victory, HMS
    • Victory ships
    • victualler
    • Victualling Board
    • vigia
    • Viking compass
    • Villeneuve Pierre Charles Jean Baptiste Silvestre, Comte de (1763–1806)
    • Villiers, Alan John (1903–82)
    • Vinland
    • viol, violl, voyal, or voyol
    • Voss, John Claus (c.1854–1922)
    • Vulcan
    • W
    • waft, to
    • waist
    • waistcloth, or wastecloath
    • waister
    • wale
    • walking beam engine
    • wall knot
    • walt
    • wardrobe
    • wardroom
    • warfare at sea.
    • warm the bell, to
    • warp.
    • Warrior, HMS
    • washstrake, or washboard
    • watch.
    • watch-bill
    • watch buoy
    • water-laid rope
    • water sail
    • waterspout.
    • waterway
    • wave line theory
    • waves
    • ‘wavy navy’
    • way
    • waypoint
    • ways
    • wear, to.
    • weather
    • weather helm.
    • weather lore
    • weatherly.
    • weather ship
    • wedding garland
    • weigh, to
    • well
    • well deck
    • well found
    • West Country whipping
    • ‘wet’
    • wetted surface
    • whack
    • whale
    • whaleboat
    • whaler.
    • whaling
    • wharf.
    • wharfage
    • wharfinger
    • wheelhouse
    • whelps
    • wherry.
    • whip.
    • whipstaff
    • whisker pole
    • whiskers
    • white ensign
    • widows’ men
    • Wilkes, Charles (1798–1877)
    • Wilkins, Sir George Hubert (1888–1958)
    • williwaw
    • winch
    • wind
    • windjammer
    • windlass
    • wind-rode
    • wind-rose
    • windrow
    • windsail
    • windseeker
    • windward
    • wing-in-surface effect ship (WISES)
    • wire rope
    • wishbone
    • woolding, wolding, or woulding
    • worm, to
    • wreck
    • wreck buoy
    • wreckers.
    • wreck vessel
    • X
    • xebec, or sometimes chebeck
    • Y
    • yacht
    • yachtbuilding.
    • yacht clubs
    • yacht designers
    • yachting
    • yacht routine
    • yankee
    • yard.
    • yardarm
    • yardmen
    • yaw, to.
    • yawl
    • ‘yellow admiral’
    • yellow jack
    • yoke
    • yuloh
    • Z
    • zenith
    • zenith distance
    • zone times
    • zulu