starboard

C2+ Topic:Maritime & Sailing

Also spelled stabboard

US /ˈstɑrbɚd/ UK /ˈstɑːbəd/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the right-hand side of a ship or aircraft when facing forward

The captain ordered a sharp turn to starboard.

Thesaurus

Opposites

port larboard

Word family

Related forms steer board

Simplified etymology

Starboard comes from an Old English expression meaning “steering board.” Early ships were steered with a paddle over the right side, so the name came to designate that side of the vessel.

Etymology

From Old English 'steorbord', literally 'steer-side', because early ships were steered by a paddle on the right-hand side: 'steor' (steering oar) + 'bord' (side of a ship).

steorbord Old English steor Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Maritime & Sailing Transportation

External links

# starboard

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈstɑrbɚd/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈstɑːbəd/

## Meanings
1. the right-hand side of a ship or aircraft when facing forward

## Examples
- The captain ordered a sharp turn to starboard.

## Antonyms
- port
- larboard

## Related Forms
- steer
- board

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: steorbord
- Root: steor

## Etymology
From Old English 'steorbord', literally 'steer-side', because early ships were steered by a paddle on the right-hand side: 'steor' (steering oar) + 'bord' (side of a ship).

## AI Etymology
Starboard comes from Old English 'steorbord', literally 'steer-side', because early ships were steered by a paddle on the right-hand side: 'steor' (steering oar) + 'bord' (side of a ship). The historical chain includes Old English steorbord and Old English steor. The quoted older senses, "steorbord", "steer-side", "steor", and "bord", supply the semantic anchors for starboard. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word starboard carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "the right-hand side of a ship or aircraft when facing forward". Related English forms include steer and board. The result is a noun and adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Maritime & Sailing
- Transportation

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