Aback vs Abaft - What's the difference?
aback | abaft |
(archaic) Towards the back or rear; backwards.
* (rfdate),
(archaic) In the rear; a distance behind.
By surprise; startled; dumbfounded.
(nautical) Backward against the mast; said of the sails when pressed by the wind from the "wrong" (forward) side, or of a ship when its sails are set that way.
(nautical) Behind; toward the stern relative to some other object or position; aft of.
(nautical, obsolete) Backwards.
(nautical) On the aft side; in the stern.
In nautical|lang=en terms the difference between aback and abaft
is that aback is (nautical) backward against the mast; said of the sails when pressed by the wind from the "wrong" (forward) side, or of a ship when its sails are set that way while abaft is (nautical) on the aft side; in the stern .As adverbs the difference between aback and abaft
is that aback is (archaic) towards the back or rear; backwards while abaft is (nautical|obsolete) backwards .As a noun aback
is (obsolete) an abacus.As a preposition abaft is
(nautical) behind; toward the stern relative to some other object or position; aft of .aback
English
Etymology 1
* From (etyl) . * . Compare West Frisian .Adverb
(-)- Therewith aback she started.
- (Knolles)
- By setting the foresail aback and the headsail in the middle one can bring a fore-and-aft rigged sailing boat practically to a halt even in heavy wind.
- (Totten)
Usage notes
* (by surprise) Preceded by a form of the word take .See also
*Etymology 2
From abacus.References
abaft
English
Preposition
(English prepositions)- abaft the wheelhouse.
Adverb
(en adverb)- with the wind abaft
- The mate sleeps abaft