Aboard

Part of speech: preposition, adverb

Pronunciation: /əˈbɔːd/

Definitions

1. on or onto a ship, aircraft, train, or other vehicle
2. Situated on or having entered a ship, plane, train, or similar mode of transport
3. Being inside or having gotten onto a means of travel such as a boat, airplane, or train

Etymology: The phrase "on board" is older than the single word, and the literal picture is of a ship's side. In Old English, "bord" meant a plank or the side of a vessel, and the Middle English "abord" was built from the prefix "a-", meaning "on," plus "bord." To go "aboard" was to go onto the board, meaning the deck or side of a ship, which is why the sense of boarding a boat still sits at the centre of the word. Over time the sense widened from ships to any means of transport. The same logic that put you onto a vessel's side now covers a train carriage or an aircraft cabin, so a modern passenger stepping onto a plane is doing exactly what an early sailor did at the gangway. The word works as both an adverb ("the passengers went aboard") and a preposition ("aboard the ship").

Synonyms: onboard