etymology of yaw
AlexY
Merriam-Webster's "Word of the Day" email) of interest. They
basically say that the origin of the word is unknown. Anyone heard any
plausible explanations?
>The Word of the Day for February 25 is:
>
>yaw \YAW\ (verb)
> *1 a : of a ship : to deviate erratically from a course (as
>when struck by a heavy sea); especially : to move from side to
>side b : of an airplane, spacecraft, or projectile : to turn by
>angular motion about the vertical axis
> 2 : alternate
>
>Example sentence:
> The massive power yacht raced by us without slowing down,
>and our little sailboat yawed sharply as its wake hit us.
>
>Did you know?
> In the heyday of large sailing ships, numerous nautical
>words appeared on the horizon, many of which have origins that
>have never been traced. "Yaw" is one such word. It began showing
>up in print in the 16th century, first as a noun (meaning
>"movement off course" or "side to side movement") and then as a
>verb. For more than 350 years it remained a sailing word, with
>occasional side trips to the figurative sense "to alternate."
>Then dawned the era of airplane flight in the early 20th century,
>and "yawing" was no longer confined to the sea. Nowadays, people
>who love boats still use "yaw" much as did the sailing-men of
>old, but pilots and rocket scientists also refer to the "yawing"
>of their crafts.
>
>*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
>
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--
Alex
Transpose first two letters of return address to reply by email.
Ron Natalie
Scott Wertel wrote:
>
> You are correct, I looked up the etymological definition of the word through Latin and Greek, but there is no reference to anything in the word yaw; so I have three guesses.
My dictionary says it's from the Old Norse, jaga, meaning to bend. American Heritage says
"Perhaps of Scandinavian Origin". Websters Revised Unabridged gives the German gagen (to rock),
the Norwegian gaga (to bend backward), the Icelandic gagr and gaga (bent back, throw the neck
back).
Puts the earliest use at 1586, but officially lists the origin of unknown.
\
>
> Guess number two: The small ship called a yawl.
Yawl is derived from the dutch word "jol."
brian whatcott
la...@mindspring.com says...
>
>... the origin of the word is unknown. Anyone heard any
>plausible explanations?
>
>>yaw \YAW\ (verb)
>> *1 a : of a ship : to deviate erratically from a course (as
>Alex
It's not unreasonable to speculate that the word owes something to the
difference in steering behavior of the yawl as opposed to the ketch.
The yawl positions the rudder forward of the after mast; the ketch
places the rudder astern of both masts.
The yawl offers less moment in a turn for this reason (...I suggest)
Brian Whatcott Altus OK
George R. Patterson III
Cub driver wrote:
>
> Eric Patridge speculates that it may be derived from the Old Norse
> jaga: "to move to and fro". There's an easy route from Norse into
> English, tho why it took until the 1600s I can't imagine.
There's no reason to assume that it took that long. It could have been
in common usage for hundreds of years before anyone wrote it down in a
document which has survived.
George Patterson, N3162Q.
brian whatcott
ngre...@BOATmindspring.com says...
>
>> It's not unreasonable to speculate that the word owes something to the
>> difference in steering behavior of the yawl as opposed to the ketch.
>
>
>
>It's not unreasonable until one actually looks in the Oxford English
>Dictionary....
>Armond Perretta
>
>
Hehe...surely Armond can't think he is the only one who could
offer an etymological opinion because he owns an OED
and magnifier?
The cognate words seem to jaga and jol
Icelandic ' move to and fro'
and Dutch '2 mast vessel with small jigger mast near the stern
usually behind the rudder' respectively.
They seem to connect through the Old Norse.
Brian Whatcott Altus OK
k8...@pop3.concentric.net
Anyone who understands anything knows that aviation began in the warm ,
southern parts of the united states... The early pilots teaching cross
country flying to the student would say, "Y'awll off yore heddin', son"...
And that's where the term YAW, came from....
Denny
Harry Krause
>
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> > "brian whatcott" wrote ... Armond wrote ... Brian wrote ...
> > >>
> > >> It's not unreasonable to speculate that the word owes something to the
> > >> difference in steering behavior of the yawl as opposed to the ketch.
> > >
> > >It's not unreasonable until one actually looks in the Oxford English
> > >Dictionary....
> >
> > offer an etymological opinion because he owns an OED
> > and magnifier?
>
> did not carry all 13 volumes of The Oxford English Dictionary?
>
> Not I.
>
If you have 13 volumes of the OED, you have just a little more than half
of what you need.
Harry Krause
------------
But the ad PROMISED that these "x-ray" glasses worked!
Ed
Hey Harry, ...
I think they wuz chekin' you out ...
seein' if you wuz awake this week ..
Ed.
PS ?You really think theres' 26 volumes in an OED set ???
wow_ey.
Harry Krause
No. There's fewer than 26 but more than 13.
--
Harry Krause
------------
Communism: It's like one big telephone company.