Rudderpost

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A vertical support element on a watercraft that anchors the steering apparatus while enabling it to rotate for directional control
2. A structural piece fixed on vessels that secures the maneuvering device, permitting it to turn for guidance
3. The vertical part on a boat to which the steering mechanism is attached, allowing it to pivot for navigation

Etymology: The rudderpost is, quite literally, a post that a rudder is hung from. Its two halves have very different pedigrees: "rudder" comes down from Old English "rōþor", a native Germanic word for the steering oar or blade that a boat is turned by, while "post" was borrowed from Latin "postis", meaning a doorpost or upright timber. Old French carried that Latin word into Middle English as "post", and English speakers then applied it to any sturdy vertical support. Put together, the compound describes exactly what a sailor would see: the heavy upright timber at the stern to which the rudder is fixed, so that turning the rudder's blade turns the whole ship. The two words came from opposite sides of the Continent and were joined in English only when a ship's construction needed a name for that particular piece of timber.