sponson (SPON-suhn) - n., a structure (such as a gun deck) jutting from the side or deck of a ship; a buoyant appendage attached to the gunwale of a canoe or hull of a seaplane to increase stability.
Like most nautical terminology, the origin is obscure. First observed in writing some time around 1830, and is possibly a victim of shortening of "extension" of the sort that collapses boatswain to bosun and forecastle to fo'c'sle.
---L.
Like most nautical terminology, the origin is obscure. First observed in writing some time around 1830, and is possibly a victim of shortening of "extension" of the sort that collapses boatswain to bosun and forecastle to fo'c'sle.
---L.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-23 05:17 pm (UTC)