taffrail

Etymology

From either tafferel or aft rail, by false alteration.

noun

  1. (nautical) The curved wooden top of the stern of a sailing man-of-war or East Indiaman, usually carved or decorated.
  2. (nautical) The rail around the stern of a ship.
    One evening, leaning over the taffrail, I observed a very singular, isolated cloud, to the N.W. 1833, Edgar Allan Poe, MS. Found in a Bottle
    […] with heavy, lumber-like pace he was measuring the ship from taffrail to mainmast […] See also citations under tafferel. 1851, Herman Melville, chapter 29, in Moby-Dick
  3. (nautical) The deck area at the stern of a vessel.

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