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starboard

UK/ˈstɑː.bəd/US/ˈstɑɹ.bɚd/
nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #3,169 of 15,258neutral

Starboard is the right-hand side of a boat, looking forward. To starboard, the starboard side, starboard light.

Port and starboard are used instead of left and right because they do not change with which way the speaker is facing. The starboard light is green and the port one red. The name has nothing to do with stars: it is steer-board, from the steering oar that hung on the right side of old ships.

Pearson Scott Foresman · Public domain

Definitions of starboard

  1. 1nounstarboardThe right-hand side of a boat, looking forward.B2+

    “The captain turned the ship hard to starboard to avoid the rocks.”

starboard is a side of a vessel.

Where it comes from

Old English steorbord is steer plus board, from the steering oar hung on the right side of a ship.

  1. Proto-West Germanic

    *steurubord

  2. Old English

    stēorbord

  3. Middle English

    sterbord

  4. English, today

    starboard

From Middle English sterbord, stere-bourd, stere-burd, from Old English stēorbord, from Proto-West Germanic steurubord, equivalent to steer + board, referring to ancient ships with the steering oar set to the right (to accommodate right-handed crew). Ships had to dock on their left (port) side because the steering oar on the right would get in the way, which is how the left became known as the port side.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Sea & Sailing

Practise this word

starboard in the wild

  • Generally, a craft is on a starboard tack if the wind is coming over the starboard (right) side with sails on port (left) side.

    Tack (sailing)

  • In USA, the red light indicates the starboard side of the channel for harbour bound vessels, while the green light indicates the port side of the same channel.

    Sector light

  • The galley is located on the starboard side amidships and is equipped with a two-burner stove and a sink.

    Triton 25

  • The galley is located on the starboard side amidships.

    Vancouver 25

  • The head is located just aft of the bow cabin on the starboard side.

    Walton 25

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.