The Sailor's Word-Book Part 12

APOBATHRae. Ancient gang-boards from the ship to the quays.

APOCATASTASIS. The time in which a planet returns to the same point of the zodiac whence it departed.

APOGEE. That point of the moon's...o...b..t which is furthest from the earth; the opposite of _perigee_. The _apogee_ of the sun is synonymous with the _aphelion_ of the earth. The word is also used as a general term to express the greatest distance of any heavenly body from the earth.

A-POISE. Said of a vessel properly trimmed.

APOSTLES. The knight-heads or bollard timbers, where hawsers or heavy ropes are belayed.

APOTOME. The difference of two incommensurable mathematical quant.i.ties.

APPALTO. The commercial term for a monopoly in Mediterranean ports.

APPARATUS. Ammunition and equipage for war.

APPAREL. In marine insurance, means the _furniture_ or appurtenances of a ship, as masts, yards, sails, ground gear, guns, &c. More comprehensive than _apparatus_.

APPARELLED. Fully equipped for service.

APPARENT. In appearance, as visible to the eye, or evident to the mind, which in the case of astronomical motions, distances, alt.i.tudes, and magnitudes, will be found to differ materially from their real state, and require correcting to find the true place.

APPARENT EQUINOX. The position of the equinox as affected by nutation.

APPARENT HORIZON. _See_ HORIZON.

APPARENT MOTION. The motion of celestial bodies as viewed from the earth.

APPARENT NOON. The instant that the sun's centre is on the meridian of a place.

APPARENT OBLIQUITY. The obliquity of the ecliptic affected with nutation.

APPARENT PLACE OF A STAR. This is the position for any day which it seems to occupy in the heavens, as affected with aberration and nutation.

APPARENT TIME. The time resulting from an observation of the sun--an expression _per contractionem_ for apparent solar time.

APPARITION. A star or planet becoming visible after occultation.

_Perpetual apparition_ of the lesser northern circles, wherein the stars being above the horizon, never set.

APPEARANCE. The first making of a land-fall: formerly astronomically used for phenomenon and phase. The day of an officer's first joining a ship after his being appointed.

APPLE-PIE ORDER. A strange but not uncommon term for a ship in excellent condition and well looked to. Neat and orderly. Absurdly said to be a corruption of _du pol au pied_.

APPLICATE. The ordinate, or right line drawn across a curve, so as to be bisected by its diameter.

APPLICATION. A word of extensive use, for the principles of adjusting, augmenting, and perfecting the relations between sciences.

APPOINTED. Commissioned--named for a special duty.

APPOINTMENT. The equipment, ordnance, furniture, and necessaries of a ship. Also an officer's commission. In the Army, _appointments_ usually imply military accoutrements, such as belts, sashes, gorgets, &c.

APPORTER. A bringer into the realm.

APPRAIs.e.m.e.nT. A law instrument taken out by the captors of a vessel, who are primarily answerable for the expense.

APPRENTICE. One who is covenanted to serve another on condition of being instructed in an art, and ships' apprentices are to the same effect.

Boys under eighteen years of age bound to masters of merchant ships were exempted from impressment for three years from the date of their indentures; which doc.u.ments were in duplicate, and exempt from stamp duty.

APPROACHES. The trenches, zig-zags, saps, and other works, by which a besieger makes good his way up to a fortified place. (_See_ TRENCHES.)

APPROVAL. The senior officer's signature to a demand or application.

APPROXIMATION. A continual approach to a quant.i.ty sought, where there is no possibility of arriving at it exactly.

APPULSE. A near approach of one heavenly body to another, so as to form an apparent contact: the term is princ.i.p.ally used with reference to stars or planets when the moon pa.s.ses close to them without causing occultation.

Ap.r.o.n, OR STOMACH-PIECE. A strengthening compa.s.s timber fayed abaft the lower part of the stern, and above the foremost end of the keel; that is, from the head down to the fore dead-wood knee, to which it is scarfed. It is sided to receive the fastenings of the fore-hoods or planking of the bow.--_Ap.r.o.n of a gun_, a square piece of sheet-lead laid over the touch-hole for protecting the vent from damp; also over the gun-lock.--_Ap.r.o.n of a dock_, the platform rising where the gates are closed, and on which the sill is fastened down.

APSIDES, LINE OF. The imaginary line joining the aphelion and perihelion points in the orbit of a planet.

APSIS. Either of the two points in planetary orbits where they are at the greatest and the least distance from the sun, and are termed _higher_ or _lower_ accordingly. The two are joined by a diameter called the _line of the apsides_.

AQUAGE. The old law-term denoting the toll paid for water-carriage.

AQUARIUS. The eleventh sign in the zodiac (a Aquarius Sadalmelik).

AQUATIC. Inhabiting or relating to the water.

AQUATILE. An archaism for _aquatic_; thus Howell's lexicon describes the crocodile as "partly aquatil, partly terrestrial."

AQUAt.i.tES. The law-term for everything living in the water.

AQUE. Wall-sided flat-floored boats, which navigate the Rhine.

AQUEDUCT. Conduits or ca.n.a.ls built for the conveyance of water.

AQUILA. The constellation Aquila, in which a Aquilae is an important star of the first magnitude: used by seamen in determining the lat.i.tude and longitude; also in lunar distances. (_See_ ALTAIR.)

AQUILON. The north-east wind, formerly much dreaded by mariners.

ARAMECH. The Arabic name for the star Arcturus.

ARBALIST [from _arcus_ and _balista_]. An engine to throw stones, or the cross-bow used for bullets, darts, arrows, &c.; formerly arbalisters formed part of a naval force.

ARBITER. The judge to whom two persons refer their differences; not always judicial, but the arbiter, in his own person, of the fate of empires and peoples.

ARBITRAGE. The referring commercial disputes to the arbitration of two or more indifferent persons.

ARBITRATION. The settlement of disputes out of court.