At 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 t

At 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.