port and starboard
Ship's left, right
Port and starboard are the nautical terms for left and right sides of a vessel, facing forward.
Port is left, starboard is right.
These fixed terms avoid confusion that would arise from crew members facing different directions—starboard is always the same side of the ship regardless of where you're standing: The lighthouse was visible off the starboard bow.
- leftDeparted or portside
- rightMorally proper or entitled
- nauticalOf ships and sailing
- nautical termsVocabulary of seamanship
- bowRespectful forward inclination
stern · helm · ship's wheel · deck · all hands on deck · sailing · ship · vessel · naval vessel · cruise ship · navigation · captain · compass · rudder · maritime · aboard · sea legs · larboard
- seafaringship, sailors, ships, sail, sailor
- ship timewatch, first watch, morning watch, dog watch, midwatch
port and starboardfore and aft
Along a vessel's length
stem to stern · front and back · lengthwise · longitudinal · amidships
port and starboardeast and west
Opposing cardinal directions
compass directions · cardinal directions · left and right · true bearing · compass bearings
port, starboard, ports, ported, porting, portal, portals, porter, porters