A.
ABATÉE, or Abbatée, fallen off to a certain point; expressed of a ship when she lies by, with some of her sails aback.
ABATTRE, to bear away, to drive, to edge farther to leeward.
Abattre un vaisseau, to heave down or careen a ship.
Le vaisseau s’ABAT, the ship drives or falls to leeward. This phrase is more peculiar to the motion of a ship when her anchor is loosened from the ground.
ABORDAGE, the shock or concussion produced by two vessels striking each other in battle or otherwise; also the assault of boarding.
Aller à l’ABORDAGE, sauter à l’ABORDAGE, to board or enter an enemy’s ship in an hostile manner.
ABORDER, to fall or drive aboard a ship, by accident, or neglect of the steersman; spoken of two vessels when one or both are under sail, or otherwise in motion.
Aborder un vaisseau de bout au corps, to lay a ship aboard by running the bowsprit over her waist.
ABOUGRI, or Rabougri, cross-grained, or knotty; a term applied by shipwrights to timber which is, by this quality, rendered unfit for ship-building.
ABOUT, the butt or end of any plank: also the place where the ends of two planks are joined on the ship’s side, &c.
ABRI, a place of anchorage under shelter of the weather-shore. Hence
ABRIÉ, becalmed, sheltered from the wind.
ACASTILLAGE, or rather Encastillage, a general name for the quarter-deck, poop, and fore-castle. Hence accastillé answers to deep-waisted.
ACCLAMPER, to fortify a piece of wood by attaching another piece thereto; as the fishes which are fixed on the masts.
ACCON, a small flat-bottomed boat, for fishing of cockles.
ACCORD, the order to pull together on a rope or tackle; also to row together, or pull uniformly with the oars.
ACCORDS, or Accores, props or shoars fixed under a ship’s wales, to keep her upright, before she is launched, or when she is brought into dock, or laid aground.
Accord droit, an upright shoar or prop.
ACCORER, to prop or sustain any weighty body, as a ship on the ground.
ACCOSTE, come aboard, or come along-side; the order given to a small vessel or boat, to approach a ship.
ACCOSTER, or Accoter, to pull or thrust any thing near or close to some other, as the two blocks of a tackle, &c.
Accoster les huniers ou les perroquets, to haul home the top-sail sheets, or top-gallant sheets.
ACCOTAR, the gunnel-plank of a ship. See Plat-bord.
ACCOURSIE, a passage formed in a ship’s hold, by a separation of her stores, cargo, or provisions, when she is laden, to go fore and aft, as occasion requires.
ACCROCHER, the act of boarding and grappling an enemy’s ship.
ACCUL, the depth of a bay, or small road,
ACCULEMENT, the concavity and figure of those timbers which are placed upon the keel, towards the extremities of a ship.
ACROTERE, a cape, head-land, or promontory.
ACTE de delai, an act by which a debtor loses all his effects by shipwreck.
ADIEU-VA, an expression of command, used by the master or pilot, to bid the ship’s crew prepare for tacking, or veering, when the course is to be changed.
ADDONER, to scant, or veer forward; expressed of the wind when it becomes unfavourable.
AFFALE, the order to lower or let down any thing.
Affalé, to be embayed, or forced, by the violence of the wind, or current, near to a lee shore.
AFFALER, to lower any thing by a tackle, as a yard, sail, cask, &c.
AFFINE, it clears away, or becomes fair: understood of the weather, after having been cloudy or over-cast for some time.
AFFOLÉE, erroneous or defective; spoken of a magnetical needle which has lost its virtue.
AFFOURCHER, to moor, or let go a second anchor, so that a ship may ride between the two, which will bear an equal strain.
AFFRANCHIR, to free the ship, or clear her hold of water by the pumps.
AFFRÉTEMENT, the freight of a merchant-ship. Hence
AFFRETER, to freight.
AFFUT de mer, the carriage of a cannon used at sea.
AGITER, to swell, or run high; expressed of a turbulent sea.
AGRÉER, to rig a ship, or equip her with yards, sails, rigging, &c.
AGREILS, or Agrès. There is no sea-term in English which answers to this expression, in its full extent; unless we adopt the obsolete word Tackling, which is now entirely disused by our mariners. The French term comprehends the rigging, yards, sails, blocks, cables, and anchors; and is probably better translated, machinery or furniture.
AIDE major, an officer whose duty resembles that of our adjutant of marines.
Aide de canonnier. See Canonnier.
AIGU, sharp or narrow towards the two ends, afore and abaft.
AIGUADE, a watering-place for shipping; also the provision or quantity of fresh water necessary for a sea-voyage.
AIGUILLE, part of a ship’s cut-water. See Eperon. This term appears to be obsolete, as it is not once mentioned by M. Du Hamel, who is very minute in describing the several pieces of the cut-water.
Aiguille also implies a top-mast, or such like piece of timber employed to support a lower-mast, in the act of careening.
Aiguille de fanal, an iron crank or brace, used to sustain the poop-lanthern.
Aiguille aimantée, the magnetical needle.
AIGUILLES de tré or de trevier, sail-needles, bolt-rope-needles.
AIGUILLETES. See Porques.
AILURES. See Illoires.
AIMANT, the magnet or loadstone.
AIR de vent, the point of the compass in which the wind fits.
AISEMENT, a place of convenience in the gallery or head of a ship.
AISSADE, that part of the poop where the ship’s breadth begins to diminish as it approaches the stern.
A LA BOULINE, close hauled. See Aller à la bouline.
ALARGUER, to sheer off; to sail aloof from the shore or some contiguous object.
A L’AUTRE, an exclamation pronounced by the sailors of the watch, at the striking of the watch-bell, every half hour to signify to the pilot that they keep a good look-out. See Look-out afore.
ALIDADE, the index of a nocturnal or sea-quadrant. See Octant.
ALIZÉ, the reigning wind of a particular season or region.
ALLEGE, a lighter or pram.
ALLÉGER un vaisseau, to lighten a ship by taking out part of her lading.
Alléger le cable, to buoy up the cable by attaching barrels, or pieces of timber, to it lengthwise, to float it up from a rocky or foul ground: also to veer away the cable.
ALLER à la bouline, to sail close by the wind, or close hauled.
Aller à grasse bouline, to sail with the wind upon the beam, or large.
Aller à la derive, to try under bare poles, or to try a hull. See Dérive.
Aller au plus près du vent, to sail as near the wind as possible.
Aller de bout au vent, to go head to wind, to sail right in the wind’s eye.
Aller en course, to cruise against, or in search of, an enemy.
Aller entre deux écoutes, to sail right afore the wind, or with both sheets aft.
Aller vent largue, to sail large, or with a large wind.
Aller terre à terre, to coast, or sail along shore.
ALLONGE, a futtock, or top-timber. See Couple and Varangue.
ALMADIE, a small African canoe, formed of the bark of a tree.
ALONGER un vaisseau, to lay a ship along-side of another.
Alonger le cable, to haul up a range of the cable upon deck.
Alonger la vergue de civadiere, to get the sprit-sail yard fore and aft under the bowsprit.
Alonger la terre, to sail along shore.
AMARQUE, the beacon, or buoy, of a shoal, flat, or sand-bank.
AMARRAGE, the ground-tackling, or furniture for mooring a ship.
Ligne d’Amarrage, a seising or lashing.
AMARRE, the order to fasten or belay a rope.
Amarre de bout, the head-fast, the head-cable, or hawser with its anchor.
AMARRER, to make fast, seise, or belay.
AMATELOTER, to mess together, to associate as comrades or mess-mates.
AME d’un gross cordage, the middle strand of a four stranded rope.
AMENER, to lower or strike. Hence Amene, lower away, or strike.
Amener une terre, to make the land, &c.
AMIRAL, Admiral. Hence
AMIRAUTÉ, the admiralty.
AMOLETTES or Amelotes, the bar-holes of the capstern or windlass.
AMORCER, to prime a cannon or other fire-arm.
AMPOULETTE, the watch-glass, kept in the binacle.
AMURÉ à babord, or à stribord, to have the larboard tacks aboard.
AMURER, to haul aboard the main or fore-tack.
Amurer la grand voile, to bring aboard the main tack. Hence
Amurer tout bas implies to get the tacks close aboard, or down as close as possible.
AMURES. See Dogue d’Amure.
Amures d’une voile, the tacks of boom-sails and stay-sails.
ANCETTES, the bow-line cringles in the bolt-rope of a sail.
ANCRE, an anchor. Hence Ancrage, the duty of anchorage. See Mouillage.
Ancre à demeure, a large anchor sunk in a road or harbour, to warp ships in and out, or ride them a short time.
Ancre à la veille, an anchor which is ready to be sunk from the ship.
Ancre de flot, & Ancre de jussant, the flood-anchor and ebb-anchor.
Ancre de terre, the shore-anchor, or that which lies towards the shore.
Ancre du large, the sea-anchor, or that which lies towards the offing.
L’Ancre a quitté, l’Ancre est dérangée, the anchor is a-trip, or a-weigh.
L’Ancre est au bossoir, the anchor is at the cat-head.
A l’Ancre, see Vaisseau à l’ancre. Bosser l’Ancre, see Bosser. Caponner l’Ancre, see Capon.
Faire venir l’Ancre à pic, or à pique, virer à pic, to heave a-peek upon the anchor.
Gouverner sur l’Ancre, to sheer the ship to her anchor, when heaving a-head.
Lever l’Ancre, to heave up the anchor, to weigh.
Chasser sur les Ancres, to drag the anchors, to drive at anchor.
Filer sur les Ancres. See Filer.
Leve l’Ancre avec la chaloupe, go and weigh the anchor with the long-boat.
Leve l’Ancre d’affourché, the order to veer away one cable, and heave upon the other.
ANCRER, or Jetter l’ancre, Mouiller l’ancre, or simply Mouiller, Donner fond, Mettre, or Avoir le vaisseau sur le fer, Toucher, Laisser tomber l’ancre. All these terms are synonimous, and signify to bring up, to anchor, to come to anchor, or to let go the anchor.
ANGE, chain-shot.
ANGUILLERES, Anguilles, or Anguillées, Lumieres, Vitonnieres, synonimous terms, which signify the limber-holes.
ANNEAU pour attacher les vaisseaux, a mooring-ring on a wharf, buoy, &c.
Anneau de corde, a slipping-noose, a running bowline-knot.
ANNEAUX d’écoutilles, or boucles, ring-bolts of the deck, &c.
Anneaux d’étai, the hanks of a stay-sail. See Daillots.
Anneaux de sabords, ring-bolts of the gun-ports.
ANORDIE, a northerly storm peculiar to the gulph of Mexico, and the adjacent coasts, at certain seasons of the year, called by the English Creoles, a North.
ANSE, a bight or small bay.
ANSPECT, a handspike or lever.
ANTENNE, a lateen sail-yard. See Vergue.
ANTOIT, a crooked instrument of iron, used to bind the side-planks round the timbers in ship-building. English artificers perform this operation by wraining-bolts and staffs.
A PIC, a-peek, perpendicularly above the anchor, with a tight cable.
APIQUER une vergue, to top a sail-yard, or peek it up.
APLESTER, or Aplestrer, to unfurl and set the sails, ready for putting to sea.
APOSTIS, the row-locks of a galley.
APOTRES, the hawse-pieces of a ship.
APPARAUX, or Aparaux, the whole furniture of a ship, as the sails, yards, blocks, anchors, cables, helm, and artillery. This term is therefore more comprehensive than Agrès, and less so than Equippement, which, besides the above, includes the seamen, soldiers, and their provision.
APPARCELADO, a flat, equal and uniform bottom of the sea.
APPAREIL de carene, the careening-purchases; also the necessary implements and materials employed in careening.
Appareil de pompe, the pump-gear, as the boxes, brake, spear, &c.
APPAREILER, to make ready for sailing, to get under sail.
APPARTEMENT, a birth, cabin, or store room, in a ship.
APPOINTÉ, a mariner whose passage is paid by the state, and who is not obliged to work in the ship that carries him.
APPROCHER du vent. See Aller à la bouline.
AQUE, or Acque, a sort of flat bottomed lighter employed on the Rhine.
ARAIGNÉES, the crow-feet of the tops.
ARAMBER, to close in with a ship and grapple her.
ARBALETE, a cross-staff or fore-staff.
ARBALETRIERE, a platform, or gangway, on which the soldiers stand to fire their musquetry in a row-galley.
ARBORER un mât, to step or set up a mast, to get the mast an end.
Arborer un pavillon, to hoist and display a flag or ensign.
ARBRE, a mast, in the dialect of Provence. See Mat.
ARC, or ligne courbe de l’éperon, the curve of the prow or cutwater.
ARCANNE, a sort of red chalk used by shipwrights in France, to mark the timber in hewing or forming it.
ARCASSE, the stern of a ship; also the shell of a block.
ARCBOUTANT, a spar or small mast; more particularly, a boom to extend the bottom of a studding-sail, square-sail, or driver.
Arcboutant d’échafaud, the prop or shoar of a scaffold used in ship-building.
ARCEAUX, a name formerly given to the rails of the head. See Lisse de poulaine.
ARCENAL de marine, a royal dock-yard, with its warren or gun-wharf.
ARCHE, a thin covering of lath or shingle, and sometimes of rope, which cases the ship’s pump like a sheath, to preserve and keep it tight.
ARCHIPOMPE, the pump-well.
ARCHITECTURE navale, the art of ship-building.
ARDENT, a corposant, or meteor, often seen at sea in a storm. See Feu St. Elme.
Ardent, the quality of griping in the steerage, or carrying a weatherly helm.
ARER, or Chasser, to chase. See Chasser.
ARGANEAU, or Organeau, a ring-bolt of the deck or sides of a ship.
Arganeau d’ancre, the anchor-ring.
ARGOUSIN, a petty officer in the gallies, whose duty it is to fix on, or take off the shackles of the slaves, and to prevent them from escaping. It answers nearly to the corporal of a ship of war. See Prevôt.
ARISER les vergues, to strike the lower yards down upon the gunnel.
ARMADILLE, a small squadron of Spanish frigates of War, usually employed to guard the coast of New Spain, and prevent illicit trade.
ARMATEUR, a privateer or cruiser. See Corsaire.
Vaisseau ARMÉ en guerre, a merchant-vessel fitted for war, and furnished with a letter of marque to cruise against the enemy.
ARMÉE navale, a naval armament, a fleet of ships of war.
ARMEMENT, the equipment or fitting out of a ship of war, or merchantman, for a cruise, or voyage.
Etat d’Armement, a list of the officers intended to serve in a squadron of men of war.
ARMER les avirons, to ship the oars ready for rowing.
Armer un vaisseau, to arm a ship for war, or equip her for a voyage.
ARMURIER, the armourer of a vessel of war.
ARONDELLES de mer, a general name for small vessels, as brigs, settees, tartans, &c.
ARQUÉ, broken-backed or hogged, drooping at the stem and stern.
ARRET de vaisseaux & fermetures de port, an embargo laid on shipping,
ARRIERE, abaft; the hind part of a ship.
Faire vent Arriere, to bring the wind aft, or astern.
Arriere-garde d’une armée navale, the rear-division of a fleet of vessels of war.
ARRIMAGE, the stowage or disposition of the cargo in the hold.
ARRIMER, to stow the hold, to trim the ship by her stowage. Whence
ARRIMEUR, a stower.
ARRISER, or Amener. See Amener.
ARRIVAGE, an arrival of merchandise in a port or haven.
ARRIVE, the order to put the helm a-weather, bear away, or edge farther to leeward.
Arrive tout, hard a-weather. The order to put the helm close to windward.
N’Arrive pas, don’t fall off; loft.
ARRIVÉE, the movement of veering or bearing away.
ARRIVER, to bear away before the wind. Hence
Arriver sur un vaisseau, to bear down on a ship.
Arriver beaucoup, to veer apace.
ARTILLÉ, or Artillié, mounted with cannon: as, vaisseau ARTILLIÉ de trents pieces, a ship mounting thirty guns.
ARTIMON, the mizen-mast, also the mizen itself.
ASPECT, the looming or perspective view of the land from the sea.
ASSECHER, etre à sec, to appear dry, as a rock or shore when the tide of ebb has retreated from it.
ASSEMBLER, to unite the several pieces of a ship, as by rabbiting, scarfing, scoring, tenanting, &c.
ASSUJETTIR, to fix a piece of timber firmly in its place, in shipbuilding.
ASSURANCE, a contract or policy of insurance.
Pavillon d’Assurance, a flag or signal of peace.
ASSURER, to insure a vessel against the dangers of the sea, &c.
ASTROLABE, a nocturnal.
A TRAIT & à rame, to go with sails and oars.
ATTEINDRE, to join a ship at sea, either by accident or pursuit.
ATTELIER de Construction, a shed or store-house to contain shipwrights tools; a loft or work-house near the dock; a wharf, or place for building sea-vessels.
ATTÉRAGE, a land-fall. Whence
ATTERIR, to make the land.
ATTERRISSEMENT, a mound or bank of earth thrown up near the margin of a river, by violent freshes or storms.
ATTOLONS, a cluster of keys or small islands, a chain of rocks.
ATTRAPE, the pendant or guy of the relieving tackle used in careening a ship. See Corde de retenue.
AVAL. See Avau l’eau.
AVANT, forward, afore, ahead.
Etre de l’Avant, se mettre de l’Avant, to be in the van of, or ahead in, a fleet.
Le vaisseau est trop sur l’Avant, the vessel is too much by the head.
AVANTAGE, the head, with its cutwater or prow. See Eperon.
Avantage du vent, to be to windward of some other ship.
Avant-garde, the van of a fleet of vessels of war.
AVARIE, the damage or loss which a ship may have sustained, by accidents or bad weather, in her voyage; also the duty paid for anchoring in a port.
AVASTE, avast.
AVAU l’eau, to sail with the tide, to tide it up or down a river.
AUBALÉTRIERES, a sort of stanchions or pillars erected on the sides of a row-galley, to support the rails of the gang-way, and form the bed-place of a soldier.
AUBIER, the sap of timber.
AUBINET, or Saint Aubinet, no man’s land.
AUGE à goudron, a tar-bucket.
AVIRON, an oar. See Rame.
AVITAILLEMENT, or Avictuaillement, the sea-victualling or provision of a ship.
AVITAILLEUR, or Avictuailleur, an agent-victualler, or contractor for supplying a ship with sea-provisions.
AU LOF, luff. The order from the pilot to steer nearer the wind. See Olofée.
AUMONIER, the sea-chaplain.
AVOCAT Fiscal. See Fiscal.
AVOIER, to rise, to freshen; expressed of the wind when it has changed.
AVOIR gagné, to have fore-reached, or gained upon; spoken of a vessel, relatively to some other in sight.
Avoir le pied marin, to have good sea-shoes aboard, to walk firm in a ship like a sailor.
Avoir pratique, to have pratic, or free intercourse with the natives, after having performed quarantine.
Avoir vent arriere, to have the wind aft.
Avoir vent de bout, to have the wind right an end, or a head. See Aller de bout, &c.
AU plus pres de vent, close upon a wind. See Aller au plus pres, &c.
AUSSIERE, or Hausiere, a hawser or small cable.
AUTAN, a gust or squall of wind from the south.
AUTARELLES, the thoules or rowlock-pins of a galley.
AVUSTE, or Ajuste, a bend, or knot, by which the ends of two ropes are fastened together.
AVUSTER, to bend or tie two ends of ropes together.