ACHRONICAL. An ancient term, signifying the rising of the heavenly bodies at sunset, or setting at sunrise.
ACKER. See Eagre or Aigre. Also, an eddying ripple on the surface of flooded waters. A tide swelling above another tide, as in the Severn. (See Bore.)
ACK-MEN, or Ack-pirates. Fresh-water thieves; those who steal on navigable rivers.
A-COCKBILL (see Cock-bill). The anchor hangs by its ring at the cat-head, in a position for dropping.
ACOLYTE. A term sometimes used to distinguish the smaller component of a double star. A subordinate officer in the ancient church.
ACON. A flat-bottomed Mediterranean boat or lump, for carrying cargoes over shoals.
ACQUITTANCE. A commercial term, more generally called quittance (which see).
ACRE, or Acre-fight. An old duel fought by warriors between the frontiers of England and Scotland, with sword and lance. This duelling was also called camp-fight.
ACROSS THE TIDE. A ship riding across tide, with the wind in the direction of the tide, would tend to leeward of her anchor; but with a weather tide, or that running against the wind, if the tide be strong, would tend to windward. A ship under sail should prefer the tack that stems the tide, with the wind across the stream, when the anchor is let go.
ACROSTOLIUM. A buckler, helmet, or other symbolical ornament on the prow of ancient ships; the origin of the modern figure-head.
ACT AND INTENTION. Must be united in admiralty law.
ACTE. A peninsula; the term was particularly applied by the ancients to the sea-coast around Mount Athos.
ACT OF COURT. The decision of the court or judge on the verdict, or the overruling of the court on a point of law.
ACT OF GOD. This comprehends all sudden accidents arising from physical causes, as distinguished from human agency, such as from lightning, earthquakes, hurricanes, plagues, and epidemic contagion amongst the crew. For none of these are ship-owners responsible.
ACT OF GRACE. An act of parliament for a general and free pardon to deserters from the service and others.
ACTING COMMISSION. When a commissioned officer is invalided, his vacancy is filled up pending the pleasure of the admiralty by an acting order. But when an officer dies on a station, where the admiralty delegates the power to the admiral commanding in chief, the vacancy is filled by an acting commission. Thus also rear-admirals now act on acting commissions as vice-admirals during command on their station, but return to their proper position on the navy list when it ceases.
ACTION. Synonymous with battle. Also a term in mechanics for the effort which one body exerts against another, or the effects resulting therefrom.—Action and reaction, the mutual, successive, contrary impulses of two bodies.
ACTIVE SERVICE. Duty against an enemy; operations in his presence. Or in the present day it denotes serving on full-pay, on the active list, in contradistinction to those who are virtually retired, and placed on separate lists.
ACTIVITY. The virtue of acting. The sphere of activity is the surrounding space to which the efficacy of a body extends, as the attraction of the magnet.
ACTO, or Acton. A kind of defensive tunic, made of quilted leather, or other strong material, formerly worn under the outer dress, and even under a coat of mail.
ACTUARIÆ. Long light vessels of the ancients, especially contrived for swiftness; propelled both by sails and oars; of the latter never less than twenty.
ACUMBA. Oakum. The Anglo-Saxon term for the hards, or the coarse part, of flax or unplucked wool.
ACUTE. Terminating in a point, and opposed to obtuse. An acute angle is less than a right one, or within 90°.
ACUTE-ANGLED TRIANGLE. That which has all its angles acute.
ADAMANT. The loadstone; the magnet—the sense in which it was held by early voyagers; but others considered it a "precyowse stone," or gem.
ADAMAS. The moon in nautic horoscopes.
ADAPTER. A brass tube to fit the eye-end of a telescope, into which all the eye-pieces will screw.
ADARRIS. A word which Howell explains as the flower of sea-water.
ADDEL, or Addle. An old term for the putrid water in casks.
ADDICE, an adze. Also the addled eggs of gulls and other sea-fowl.
ADDLINGS. Accumulated pay or wages.
ADELANTADO. A lieutenant of the king of Spain, but used by old English writers for "admiral."
ADHESION. Consent to a proposal. Union or temporary cohesion; as, two vessels forced into adhesion by the pressure of the tide on their beam.
ADIT. A space in ancient ships, in the upper and broadest part, at which people entered. The adit of a military mine, is the aperture by which it is dug and charged: the name is also applied to an air-hole or drift.
ADJACENT. Lying close to another object; a word applied to the relative situations of capes or bays from the ship.—Adjacent angle is one immediately contiguous to another, so that they have one common side.
ADJOURN, To. To put off till another day. Adjournments can be made in courts-martial from day to day, Sundays excepted, until sentence is passed.
ADJUDICATION. The act of adjudging prizes by legal decree. Captors are compelled to submit the adjudication of their captures to a competent tribunal.
ADJUST, To. To arrange an instrument for use and observation; as, to adjust a sextant, or the escapement of a chronometer. To set the frame of a ship.
ADJUSTMENT. In marine insurance, the ascertaining and finally settling the amount of indemnity—whether of average or of salvage—which the insured (after all proper deductions have been made) is entitled to receive under the policy, when the ship is lost.
ADJUSTMENT OF THE COMPASS. Swinging a ship to every point of bearing, to note the variation or error of the needle upon each rhumb, due to the local attraction of the iron, or the mass, on each separate compass bearing. Thus, in lat. 76° N. it was found to be +22° 30′ with the head W.S.W., and −56° 30′ on the opposite bearing, or E.N.E.
ADJUTANT. [From Lat. adjuvo, to help.] A military assistant to field-officers. The term has been applied to an assistant captain of a fleet. It is indeed the duty performed by first lieutenants.
ADMEASUREMENT. The calculation of proportions according to assumed rules, often ignorantly practised in estimating the tonnage of a ship.
ADMIRAL. The derivation of this noble title from the Greek almyros, from the Latin admirabilis, from the Saxon aenmereeal, and from the French aumer, appear all fanciful. It is extensively received that the Sicilians first adopted it from emir, the sea, of their Saracen masters; but it presents a kind of unusual etymological inversion. The term is most frequent in old Romance; but the style and title was not used by us until 1286; and in 1294, William de Leybourne was designated "Amiral de la Mer du Roy d'Angleterre;" six years afterwards Viscount Narbonne was constituted Admiral of France; which dates nearly fix the commencement of the two states as maritime powers.
The admiral is the chief commander of a fleet, but of this rank there are three degrees, distinguished by a flag at the fore, main, or mizen mast, according to the title of admiral, vice-admiral, or rear-admiral. These were again subdivided according to their colour of red, white, or blue, which had to be likewise borne by the squadrons they respectively commanded. (See Flag.) In 1865 the colours were omitted, and the only flag now hoisted by ships of war is the white St. George's ensign, and for admirals the white