A Little Nautical Etymology : Starboard, Larboard and Port
Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 22:59
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Edited by Richard Walker, Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 23:00
In this section of the Bayeux Tapestry, which shows Harold landing in Ponthieu, we can see the ship is steered by an oar, as was common at the time. Steering oars did not get replaced by rudders until a couple of centuries later. The steering oar was on the right-side of the ship facing forward, so that side of the ship was called in Old English steorbord, 'steer side', bord being the term used for the ship's side. I guess if you were a left-handed steerer you just had to live with it.
This has direct cognates in Germanic languages e.g. German Steuerbord, Old Norse stýriborð, and because of the influence these peoples had as seafarers the word was borrowed into Romabce languages, so we have e.g. French tribord.
Tracing the Proto-Germanic *steuro further back seems inconclusive, with more than one explanation appearing in the literature.
Turning now to larboard, the side opposite starboard was at first 'backboard', bæcbord in Old English, but by Middle English we have ladde-borde, which seems to mean the side the ship was loaded or unloaded; think of the modern word laden. Naturally this would be the opposite side from the steering oar.
However having starboard and larboard, although a pleasing rhyming pair, is a recipe for confusion give the similar sounds, and so larboard was been displaced by port, with similar connotations of being the side that comes alongside the key, so now larboard is rare and archaic, and 'port and starboard' in the normal expression.
Picture credit: Wikimedia, Section of the Bayeux Embroidery showing Harold arriving in Ponthieu, Public Domain.
A Little Nautical Etymology : Starboard, Larboard and Port
In this section of the Bayeux Tapestry, which shows Harold landing in Ponthieu, we can see the ship is steered by an oar, as was common at the time. Steering oars did not get replaced by rudders until a couple of centuries later. The steering oar was on the right-side of the ship facing forward, so that side of the ship was called in Old English steorbord, 'steer side', bord being the term used for the ship's side. I guess if you were a left-handed steerer you just had to live with it.
This has direct cognates in Germanic languages e.g. German Steuerbord, Old Norse stýriborð, and because of the influence these peoples had as seafarers the word was borrowed into Romabce languages, so we have e.g. French tribord.
Tracing the Proto-Germanic *steuro further back seems inconclusive, with more than one explanation appearing in the literature.
Turning now to larboard, the side opposite starboard was at first 'backboard', bæcbord in Old English, but by Middle English we have ladde-borde, which seems to mean the side the ship was loaded or unloaded; think of the modern word laden. Naturally this would be the opposite side from the steering oar.
However having starboard and larboard, although a pleasing rhyming pair, is a recipe for confusion give the similar sounds, and so larboard was been displaced by port, with similar connotations of being the side that comes alongside the key, so now larboard is rare and archaic, and 'port and starboard' in the normal expression.
Picture credit: Wikimedia, Section of the Bayeux Embroidery showing Harold arriving in Ponthieu, Public Domain.