Bow vs. Stern

By Jaxson

  • Stern

    The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite of the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Originally, the term only referred to the aft port section of the ship, but eventually came to refer to the entire back of a vessel. The stern end of a ship is indicated with a white navigation light at night.

    Sterns on European and American wooden sailing ships began with two principal forms: the square or transom stern and the elliptical, fantail, or merchant stern, and were developed in that order. The hull sections of a sailing ship located before the stern were composed of a series of U-shaped rib-like frames set in a sloped or “cant” arrangement, with the last frame before the stern being called the fashion timber(s) or fashion piece(s), so called for “fashioning” the after part of the ship. This frame is designed to support the various beams that make up the stern.

    In 1817 the British naval architect Sir Robert Seppings first introduced the concept of the round or circular stern. The square stern had been an easy target for enemy cannon, and could not support the weight of heavy stern chase guns. But Seppings’ design left the rudder head exposed, and was regarded by many as simply ugly—no American warships were designed with such sterns, and the round stern was quickly superseded by the elliptical stern. The United States began building the first elliptical stern warship in 1820, a decade before the British. USS Brandywine became the first sailing ship to sport such a stern. Though a great improvement over the transom stern in terms of its vulnerability to attack when under fire, elliptical sterns still had obvious weaknesses which the next major stern development—the iron-hulled cruiser stern—addressed far better and with much different materials.

Wikipedia
  • Bow (noun)

    A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.

  • Bow (noun)

    A curved bend in a rod or planar surface, or in a linear formation such as a river (see oxbow).

  • Bow (noun)

    A rod with horsehair (or an artificial substitute) stretched between the ends, used for playing various stringed musical instruments.

  • Bow (noun)

    A stringed instrument (chordophone), consisting of a stick with a single taut cord stretched between the ends, most often played by plucking.

  • Bow (noun)

    A type of knot with two loops, used to tie together two cords such as shoelaces or apron strings, and frequently used as decoration, such as in gift-wrapping.

  • Bow (noun)

    Anything bent or curved, such as a rainbow.

  • Bow (noun)

    The U-shaped piece which goes around the neck of an ox and fastens it to the yoke.

  • Bow (noun)

    Any instrument consisting of an elastic rod, with ends connected by a string, employed for giving reciprocating motion to a drill, or for preparing and arranging hair, fur, etc., used by hatters.

  • Bow (noun)

    A crude sort of quadrant formerly used for taking the sun’s altitude at sea.

  • Bow (noun)

    Two pieces of wood which form the arched forward part of a saddletree.

  • Bow (noun)

    The part of a key that is not inserted into the lock and that is used to turn the key.

  • Bow (noun)

    A gesture, usually showing respect, made by inclining the head or bending forward at the waist; a reverence

    “He made a polite bow as he entered the room.”

  • Bow (noun)

    The front of a boat or ship.

  • Bow (noun)

    The rower that sits in the seat closest to the bow of the boat.

  • Bow (verb)

    To play music on (a stringed instrument) using a bow.

    “The musician bowed his violin expertly.”

  • Bow (verb)

    To become bent or curved.

    “The shelf bowed under the weight of the books.”

  • Bow (verb)

    To make something bend or curve.

  • Bow (verb)

    To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend, figuratively; to turn; to incline.

  • Bow (verb)

    To premiere.

    “Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis” bows in Cannes this week.”

  • Bow (verb)

    To bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference.

    “That singer always bows towards her audience for some reason.”

  • Bow (verb)

    To debut.

  • Bow (verb)

    To defer (to something).

    “I bow to your better judgement in the matter.”

  • Bow (verb)

    To give a direction, indication, or command to by bowing.

  • Stern (adjective)

    Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.

  • Stern (adjective)

    Grim and forbidding in appearance.

  • Stern (noun)

    The rear part or after end of a ship or vessel.

  • Stern (noun)

    The post of management or direction.

  • Stern (noun)

    The hinder part of anything.

  • Stern (noun)

    The tail of an animal; now used only of the tail of a dog.

  • Stern (noun)

    A bird, the black tern.

Wiktionary
  • Bow (noun)

    a knot tied with two loops and two loose ends, used especially for tying shoelaces and decorative ribbons

    “a girl with long hair tied back in a bow”

  • Bow (noun)

    a decorative ribbon tied in a bow.

  • Bow (noun)

    a weapon for shooting arrows, typically made of a curved piece of wood joined at both ends by a taut string.

  • Bow (noun)

    a long, partially curved rod with horsehair stretched along its length, used for playing the violin and other stringed instruments.

  • Bow (noun)

    a single passage of a bow over the strings of an instrument.

  • Bow (noun)

    a curved stroke forming part of a letter (e.g. b, p).

  • Bow (noun)

    a metal ring forming the handle of a key or pair of scissors.

  • Bow (noun)

    a side piece or lens frame of a pair of glasses.

  • Bow (noun)

    an act of bending the head or upper body as a sign of respect or greeting

    “the man gave a little bow”

  • Bow (noun)

    the front end of a ship

    “water sprayed high over her bows”

  • Bow (verb)

    play (a stringed instrument or music) using a bow

    “the techniques by which the pieces were bowed”

  • Bow (verb)

    bend the head or upper part of the body as a sign of respect, greeting, or shame

    “he turned and bowed to his father”

    “she knelt and bowed her head”

    “councillors stood with heads bowed”

  • Bow (verb)

    express (thanks, agreement, or other sentiments) by bending one’s head respectfully

    “he looked at Hector before bowing grave thanks”

  • Bow (verb)

    bend with age or under pressure

    “the creepers were bowed down with flowers”

    “the roof trusses bowed as the wind fought to rip the roof free”

  • Bow (verb)

    submit to pressure or demands

    “the government has bowed to pressure from farmers to increase compensation”

  • Bow (verb)

    (of a new film or product) be premiered or launched

    “the trailer bowed in theaters nationwide on December 23”

    “the Pentium III bowed in early 1999”

Oxford Dictionary

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