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Styrbord is not germanic, but old norse and literary means the rudder (i.e. steering board), which, as you said, was located on the right side of the ship. Viki
by sovande 8y ago
Styrbord is not germanic, but old norse and literary means the rudder (i.e. steering board), which, as you said, was located on the right side of the ship. Viking ships could therefore only dock on the left-side, hence port for the port side.
- tokai 8y agoOld Norse is a germanic language.
- elcapitan 8y agoExactly, as are Old German and Old English - that's why I was pointing out the Germanic relation there and the meaning behind the word :)
- elcapitan 8y agoAt least in English and German the 'board' (or 'bord' part earlier) means 'side of a ship' (but it is derived from board as piece of wood, but not necessarily the rudder, see 'Backbord' in modern German for the opposite side). See https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/starboard#Etymology https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/starboard#Etymology for details.