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Origin and history of nautical

nautical(adj.)

"pertaining to ships, sailors, or navigation," 1550s, from -al (1) + nautic from French nautique, from Latin nauticus "pertaining to ships or sailors," from Greek nautikos "seafaring, naval," from nautēs "sailor," from naus "ship" (from PIE root *nau- "boat").

also from 1550s

Entries linking to nautical

aeronautics(n.)

1824, "art of aerial navigation by means of a balloon," from aeronautic (1784), from French aéronautique, from aéro- (see aero-) + nautique "of ships," from Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos "pertaining to sailing" (see nautical). Also see -ics. Aeronaut "balloonist" is from 1784, from French aéronaute.

-al(1)

suffix forming adjectives from nouns or other adjectives, "of, like, related to, pertaining to," Middle English -al, -el, from French or directly from Latin -alis (see -al (2)).

*nau-

nāu-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "boat."

It might form all or part of: aeronautics; aquanaut; Argonaut; astronaut; cosmonaut; nacelle; naval; nave (n.1) "main part of a church;" navicular; navigate; navigation; navy; naufragous; nausea; nautical; nautilus; noise.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit nauh, accusative navam "ship, boat;" Armenian nav "ship;" Greek naus "ship," nautes "sailor;" Latin navis "ship;" Old Irish nau "ship," Welsh noe "a flat vessel;" Old Norse nor "ship."

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    Trends of nautical

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    maritime
    1540s, "of or pertaining to the sea," from French maritime (16c.) or directly from Latin maritimus "of the sea, near the sea," from mare (genitive maris) "sea" (from PIE root *mori- "body of water") + Latin ending -timus, originally a superlative suffix (compare intimus "inmost,"
    marine
    mid-15c., "found in or pertaining to the sea," from Old French marin "of the sea, maritime," and directly from Latin marinus "of the sea," from mare "sea, the sea, seawater," from PIE root *mori- "body of water." The Old English word was sælic....late 14c., "seacoast;" see marine
    bitter end
    by 1759 in lexicons of nautical language, "the part of a cable which is round about the bitts" (the two great timbers used...Hence the term began to be used c. 1835 in non-nautical language and with probable influence of if not displacement by bitter...
    stay
    "to prop, support, sustain," early 15c., staien, from Old French estaiier (Modern French étayer), originally in nautical...The nautical sense in English is attested from 1620s. Related: Stayed; staying....
    pipe
    Pipe down "be quiet" is from 1900, probably a reversal of this, but earlier (and concurrently) in nautical jargon it was...a bo'sun's whistle signal to dismiss the men from duty (1833); pipe in the nautical sense of "to call by the pipe or whistle...
    heave
    Nautical meaning "haul or pull" in any direction is from 1620s....Nautical heave-ho was a chant in lifting (c. 1300, hevelow)....
    knot
    The nautical unit of measure of speed (1630s) is from the practice of attaching knotted string to the log line at equal distances...and Antonio de Ulloa, "A Voyage to South America" 1760] Hence the word knot came also to be used as the equivalent of a nautical...A speed of 10 knots will cover ten nautical miles in an hour (equivalent to a land speed of about 11.5 mph)....
    remain
    early 15c., remainen, "be left after the removal or loss of a part, number, or quality; survive," from Anglo-French remayn-, Old French remain- (as in il remaint "it remains"), stressed stem of remanoir "to stay, dwell, remain; be left; hold out," from Latin remanere "to remain,
    triage
    1727, "action of assorting according to quality," from French triage "a picking out, sorting" (14c.), from Old French trier "to pick, cull" (see try (v.)). There seems to be some influence from or convergence with Latin tria "three" (as in triage for "coffee beans of the third or
    ground
    Old English grund "bottom; foundation; surface of the earth," also "abyss, Hell," and "bottom of the sea" (a sense preserved in run aground), from Proto-Germanic *grundu-, which seems to have meant "deep place" (source also of Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish grund, Dutch

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