History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 161

Smite (1494), a rope attached to one of the lower corners of a sail; ad. M.Du. smiete
or MLG. smîte (Du. smijt, LG. smîte).
The following words appear in the modern period.
Nock (1513, from Sc.), the tip or extremity of a yard-arm; (1794), in sails, the foremost
upper corner; ad. the synonymous Du. and Flem. and Fris. nok or LG. nokk (whence
also G. and Sw. nock, Da. nok); these words also occur in other special senses
denoting a projecting tip or point of some kind.
Boom, sb. (1662), a long spar run out from different places in a ship to extend or
boom out the foot of a particular sail; (c. 1645), a bar or barrier consisting of a strong
chain or line of connected spars, &c., stretched across a river or the mouth of a
harbour to obstruct navigation; ad. Du. boom, tree, beam, pole.
Boom, vb. (1627), in the sense, ‘to boom out’, to extend the foot of a sail with a boom,
is from the sb.; in the sense, ‘to boom off’, to push a vessel off with a pole, it is
apparently directly from Du. boomen, ‘to push off with a pole’, as the sb. appears not
to be used in this sense. Bomespar (1660), a spar of a larger kind; ad. Du. boomspar.
Bumkin, Bumpkin (1632), a short boom projecting from each bow of a ship; probably
an Eng. adaptation of the Flem. diminutive boomken; in Holland the diminutive is
boompje. Bolm (1513, from Sc.), is a Sc. variant of boom, from Du. and Flem. boom.
Cringle (1627), a ring or eye of rope containing a thimble worked into the bolt-rope of
a sail for the attachment of a rope; apparently of LG. origin; cf. G. (mostly LG.) and
Mid.G. kringel, MLG. and LG. krengel, diminutive of kring, circle, ring.
Slabline (1647), a small cord passing up behind a ship's foresail or mainsail, used for
trussing the sail; probably ad. Du. slaplijn, from slap, slack.
Kink, sb. (1678), a small twist or curl in a rope at which it is bent upon itself; probably
ad. Du. kink, twist, twirl. The vb. is later, Kink (1697), and is probably ad. Du. kinken
(Hexham), from kink.
Span (1769), one or other of various ropes or chains used as fastenings or means of
connexion; ad. Du. or LG. span (also M.Du. and MLG.) from spannen, to unite, fasten.
Crance (1846), a kind of iron cup on the outer end of a bowsprit; perhaps from Du.
krans, wreath, garland. Hamber-line (1853), a small line used for seizings, lashings,
&c.; a corruption of Hamburg.
4. 6.
There is a group of terms for the various parts and timbers of a ship's hull and decks.
Deck (1513), in the nautical sense of a platform extending from side to side of a ship;
the primary notion was ‘covering’ or ‘roof’ rather than ‘floor’; the word is earlier (1466)
in the general sense of a covering; apparently of Low Dutch origin; probably ad. M.Du.
dec, roof, covering, cloak, but in the nautical sense it is not known in Du. before 167581, when dek appears as a synonym of verdek, quoted in the nautical sense in 1640,
but recorded by Kilian (1599) in the general sense only; thus deck in the nautical

161