The Bosunīs Mate Glossary of Terms
The Bosunīs Mate dictionary of Nautical Terms has been compiled from many sources and is constantly being augmented and revised in our attempt to capture as much of the rich yet complicated (and often conflicting) maritime termonology as possible.
You will find an extensive list of information about all sorts of nautical items from sailorīs knots to the sailors themselves, and from ships to the weather patterns of the seas they ply.
Random terms, by category
Abbreviations and Acronyms
(41 terms)
ISAR
The International Search And Rescue compitition held annually (and alternately) in the US and Canada where teams from the US and Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary compete in various SAR events.
ISAR was last held in 2005 and there is no plan to continue it in favour of more direct joint training between the USA and Canada. |
The things sailors do
(8 terms)
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Why say back when you can say aft instead!
(20 terms)
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Common sayings and expressions from maritime lore
(149 terms)
Windward
The direction into/towards the wind
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The foods of the sea
(2 terms)
Scurvy
A disease historically common to seaman, caused by lack of Vitamin C the British Navy started to fight it bu adding lime juice to their water - this was the origin of the slan "Limey"
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Various knots both functional and ornamental from the nautical to the ornamental and with both historic and present day value.
(12 terms)
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Bits and bobs from life aboard ship
(5 terms)
Heart of Oak
A british naval song wirtten by David Garrick that starts:
īCome cheer up, my lads, ītis to glory we steer, To add something more to this wonderful yearī Set to music by Willian Boyce in 1759 and commerating that same year "the year of vistories" or "the wonderful year" as the song proclaims. This is based on the victories at Lagos, Quiberon Bay, and the capture of Quebec - which all occured in that year during the seven years war 1756-63. It was later a traditional... |
Specific sailing maneuvers
(33 terms)
Back water
To stop the progress of a Dinghy by pushing on the handles of the oars (forcing water opposite to the normal direction for rowing)
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The points of sail and seamanship
(76 terms)
Latitude
A graduation of the surface of the earth measured north or south of the equator and expressed in degrees with the equator being 0° and the poles being 90°.
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The parts of ships
(131 terms)
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Important people and/or their positions in nautical history
(14 terms)
Yellow Admiral
A somewhat dirogatory term from the British navy that describes a post-captain that has been promoted to admiral on retirement such that they never served at that rank.
Before 1864 the British fleet was divided into Red, White, and Blue squadrons, with the admirals taking their rank from their squadronal colour. Blue being junior to white which was in turn junior to red. A Yellow Admiral, therefore did not fit and thus had no real rank at all. After the Napoleonic War (1803-1815) there ... |
Key locations of the maritime world
(20 terms)
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Rigging components and terms
(104 terms)
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Sails, their parts and materials
(30 terms)
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Types of vessels and some famous examples
(22 terms)
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The various spars used aboard ship
(6 terms)
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The tools of the trade
(27 terms)
Backstaff
A Navigation instrument used to measure the apparent height of a landmark whose actual height is known, such as the top of a lighthouse. From this information, the shipīs distance from that landmark can be calculated.
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terms awaiting clasification
(36 terms)
none found |
Meteorology and its relationship to sailing
(7 terms)
Force 8
Gale force wind on the Beaufort Wind Scale
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Total Terms: 539 Total Views: 2154215