English

forecastle

Forecastle comes from Middle English forecastel.

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

Earliest quotation: 1904, Jack London, New York: “My knife was at my hip. I returned to…”

Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘before, formerly’

Proto-Germanic *fura- ‘before, in front of, for’

Proto-West Germanic *forē- ‘before, in front of, fore-, pre-’

English fore-

Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- ‘to cut’

…

Late Latin castellum ‘small camp, fort’

Proto-West Germanic *kastell ‘castle’

Old English castel ‘town, village; castle’

Middle English castel ‘castle’

Every English word from Middle English forecastel

noun A raised part of the upper deck at the front of a ship; the structure of this part of the ship; the crew's quarters located within it.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.