The Definition of Port Side

Nautical terms evolved over time from different languages. The port side, a basic boating term, means the left side a vessel when one stands facing the bow, or the front. Port is used with its sister term, starboard, which means the right side.

  1. History

    • Crews traditionally tied ships with ropes that ran from the left side of the deck. The side of the vessel facing the land, or port, gradually became known as the port side.

    Evolution

    • Port replaced an earlier term, laddebord or larboard, which some historians suggest is derived from a French term meaning to load. Vessels were usually loaded with cargo from the left side. However, larboard sounded like starboard and sailors avoided the confusion and the potential danger it could cause in an emergency on rough seas, by renaming it "port" side.

    Official Use

    • The U.S. Navy adopted "port" as part of its official language in 1846. Twenty-one years later, British Admiral William Henry Smyth explained that port had replaced larboard in his classic lexicon, "The Sailor's Word Book."