larboard
UK /ˈlɑːbɔːd/ · US /ˈlɑɹbɔɹd/ noun
Forms larboards
- noun (archaic, nautical) The left side of a ship, looking from the stern forward to the bow; port side.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English ladde-bord, latebord, most likely referring to the side of the ship on which cargo was loaded. Changed to larboard in the 1500s by association with starboard. (Texts from the 1500s have spellings like lerbord, leereboord, larboord, corresponding to how they spell sterbord, steereboord, starboord.)
Webster’s 1913
- noun The left-hand side of a ship to one on board facing toward the bow; port; --opposed to Ant: starboard.
- adjective On or pertaining to the left-hand side of a vessel; port; as, the larboard quarter.
Etymology [Lar- is of uncertain origin, possibly the same as lower, i. e., humbler in rank, because the starboard side is considered by mariners as higher in rank; cf. D. laag low, akin to E. low. See Board, n., 8.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “larboard”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details