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vocab Archive

The Nautical Origins of Everyday Sayings

Many phrases that have been adopted into everyday use originate from seafaring – in particular from the days of sail. Virtually all of these are metaphorical and the original nautical meanings are now forgotten. That association of travel and metaphor is significant in that the word metaphor derives from ancient Greek for ‘to carry’ or [...]
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Nautical Expressions From Aubrey’s Royal Navy

One of the things that makes our beloved series so rich and fascinating is Patrick O’Brian’s flawless use of many colorful nautical expressions. They help bring the world of Jack and Stephen to life, and give dimension to even the most minor characters. This is a short list of some common naval expressions, most of [...]
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Anatomy of a Man-of-War in Aubrey’s Royal Navy

Most if not every edition of every novel in our beloved series has a useful little diagram of a typical British man-of-war somewhere in the front or back. However, I thought it might be useful to have an online reference as well. In a way this doubles as a vocab list because it includes a [...]
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Napoleonic Era Naval Tactics (2/5): The Weather Gage

Contrary to the movies, most prizes were not seized by grappling to and boarding after firing broadside for broadside. Seizing a prize was largely a question of sailing skill — the supreme importance of maneuver. In every encounter of sail, wind and position were of supreme importance. In addition to fighting the enemy, the captain [...]
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A Napoleonic Era Lexicon

Unlike Master and Commander, a great deal of the action in Post Captain takes place on land, which means an entirely new vocabulary is introduced. This lexicon will hopefully prove useful if you become confused by all the lubberly terms being thrown about. Caveat: This is not a period lexicon, but one created based on [...]
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An Introduction to Ship Types During the Age of Sail

You can mouse over terms in red for further clarification… Cool, huh? There were many different types of ships during the Age of Sail, and all were defined based on their size, the number of masts they had, the shape of their hull and their rigging (the size and shape of sails arranged on however [...]
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An Introduction to Punishment in Aubrey’s Royal Navy

Discipline in the Royal Navy of Nelson’s time is often seen as a harsh and unbending code of ‘starting’, flogging and hanging. But to take punishment out of the context of the times is to miss the comparison between life on land and life at sea during the Georgian period. The Georgian code of justice [...]
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An Introduction to Naval Terms

Patrick O’Brian is a master of naval jargon, and such mastery can at times be overwhelming. This glossary is by no means exhaustive (hence “introduction”) but should help you gain your sea-legs for your voyage!
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An Introduction to the Hierarchy of Aubrey’s Royal Navy

Ratings When signed on to a ship’s books, a man was given a rating according to his experience. Freshmen to the sea were known as landsmen, those with limited experience were ordinary seamen, while knowledgeable sailors were rated able seamen. Petty or Warrant Officers From the pool of able seamen came the candidates for promotion [...]
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Master and Commander Glossary of Medical Terms

These definitions are taken from the amazing site Maturin’s Medicine and were compiled by Kerry Webb and many others (see the end of this post for full credits). In order to make the incredible amount of information somewhat easier to process, the lovely Gwen and I have gone through the original comprehensive list and broken [...]
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All To Seek: Cross-Reference

Subjects Commonly Addressed