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Boatswain of the Royal Navy, c. 1820. The word boatswain has been in the English language since approximately 1450. It is derived from late Old English batswegen, from bat (boat) concatenated with Old Norse sveinn (), meaning a young man, apprentice, a follower, retainer or servant.
The Boatswain's is one of the four oldest professions in the U.S. Navy, along with Quartermasters (responsible for safe navigation, shiphandling, and chart/record maintenance), Gunner's Mates (responsible for maintenance and operation of gunnery equipment and associated systems) and Masters-at-Arms (responsible for maintaining order and enforcing regulations among a ship's crew or the ...
The coxswain (/ ˈ k ɒ k s ən / KOK-sən, or / ˈ k ɒ k s w eɪ n / KOK-swayn [1]) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering.The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from cock, referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boat, and swain, an Old English term derived from the Old Norse sveinn meaning boy or servant. [2]
Boatswain's call A boatswain's call in ceremonial use by a sailor of the US Navy. A boatswain's call, pipe, or bosun's whistle is a pipe or a non-diaphragm type whistle used on naval ships by a boatswain. The pipe consists of a narrow tube (the gun) which directs air over a metal sphere (the buoy) with a hole in the top.
boatswain's call. Also bosun's call, boatswain's pipe, bosun's pipe, boatswain's whistle or bosun's whistle. A high-pitched pipe or a non-diaphragm-type whistle used on naval ships by a boatswain, historically to pass commands to the crew but in modern times limited to ceremonial use. boatswain's chair. Also bosun's chair. 1.
The Boatswain (/ˈboʊsən/), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, was the warrant officer of the deck department. As deck crew foreman, the boatswain planned the day's work and assigned tasks to the deck crew. As work was completed, the boatswain checked the completed work was done correctly. He supervised the Ropemaker, the Boatswain's mate and the ...
Another important tradition is that of Piping someone aboard the ship. This was originally used to give orders on warships when shouted orders could not have been heard. The piping was done by the ship's boatswain and therefore the instrument is known as the boatswain's Pipe or boatswain's call. The two tones it gives and the number of blasts ...
This is a list of English words inherited and derived directly from the Old English stage of the language. This list also includes neologisms formed from Old English roots and/or particles in later forms of English, and words borrowed into other languages (e.g. French, Anglo-French, etc.) then borrowed back into English (e.g. bateau, chiffon, gourmet, nordic, etc.).