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.

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