Where is the ‘abaft the beam’? - English Language Usage Stack . . . "Abaft" generally means "behind or toward the rear" and the "beam" of a boat is generally the "width at the widest place" From what I gather, if "starboard" or "port" is also used describing the "beam" position, that means to about 45 degrees behind the widest part of the ship on the right side or on the left side respectively
Nautical prepositions for Toward the port starboard bow stern . . . If one thing is to the 'aft' of a second thing, it is 'abaft' the second thing For example, the captain's cabin is abaft the gun deck Are there similar words for other ship directions, such as 'bow', 'port', and 'starboard'?
In terms of a location on a ship, is forward quarter a correct term . . . forward quarter (naval architecture): The portions of the sides of a ship immediately abaft the stem [McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific Technical Terms] Note: not flagged as slang (2) 'Historically correct' is ill-defined; when did history stop? And are we to assume that the ancients made no mistakes?
word usage - If the prefix a- means not, shouldnt await or . . . There are plenty of other "a-" prefixes, some forming adjectives (awake from wake), some indicating location (above, abaft, aloft, atop), some reflecting old participial prefixes (a-growing, agone, a-laying, a-going (to)), and many more
By and large usage in an essay The "by" part of the phrase means "close-hauled " (This "by" also appears in the term full and by, meaning "sailing with all sails full and close to the wind as possible ") "Large," by contrast, refers to a point of sail in which the wind is hitting the boat "abaft the beam," or behind the boat's widest point
synonyms - English Language Usage Stack Exchange Stack Exchange Network Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers
Where did the term at‑large originate from? When the wind is behind your boat (abaft the beam), it is called “sailing large ” In this favourable 'large' direction the square sails are set and the ship is able to travel in whatever downwind direction the captain wants, so “at large” would mean free to run with few obstructions - like a criminal at large