What does astarboard mean?
"Astarboard" is a nautical adverb meaning toward or on the starboard side of a ship — that is, its right-hand side when one is facing forward. It belongs to a small family of directional terms peculiar to seafaring, where it pairs with "aport," its mirror image indicating movement to the left. The word appears most often in helm commands such as "hard astarboard," which orders the sharpest possible turn to the right, and in narrative descriptions of a vessel's maneuvering: a helmsman might ease a ship astarboard to avoid an obstacle or swing her astarboard into harbor. Though once standard working vocabulary for sailors, it has receded with modern navigation practice and now survives mainly in maritime settings, naval tradition, and historical writing about ships. Its roots lie in Old English and Old Norse seafaring terminology, tied ultimately to the steering board, or rudder oar, mounted on a ship's right side.
adverbIn a nautical context, toward or on the starboard (right-hand) side of a ship when facing forward; the opposite of aport.
- Toward or on the starboard (right-hand) side of a vessel, used chiefly in commands and descriptions of helm movements.
"The helmsman eased the wheel astarboard to avoid the drifting buoy."
""Hard astarboard!" shouted the captain as the iceberg loomed out of the fog."
"The pilot swung the ferry gently astarboard to line up with the berth."
On a ship, 'astarboard' means right and 'aport' means left — because early Viking steering oars were always mounted on the right, giving us 'steering board,' or starboard.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of astarboard
Astarboard combines the prefix "a-" (meaning "on" or "in the direction of") with "starboard," the traditional term for a ship's right side. Starboard itself derives from Old English steor-bord, literally "steering board," referring to the board or oar on which early ships' rudders were mounted — typically on the right side of the vessel, a convention inherited from Old Norse practice. The word thus carries a direct linguistic link back to medieval northern European seamanship, sharing its ancestry with related nautical compounds like aboard and overboard.
How astarboard is actually used
A specialized nautical term, now largely confined to maritime contexts, historical fiction, and traditional seafaring language; in everyday speech people say "to starboard" or "on the starboard side."
Easily confused with astarboard
Aport means toward the left side of a ship, while astarboard means toward the right.