Keel – The main framework of a ship, it runs along the bottom of the ship - from the front to the back.

Keelhaul – To pull somebody under a ship (under the keel). Done by using ropes and often as a form of punishment.

Knots – The speed a ship travels. A knot is the same as a nautical mile.

Lad – Young man.

Land ahoy! – ‘I see land.’

Landlubber or lubber – A person who likes being on land, often used as an insult.

Landyard – A short rope that things can be hung from.

Lass – Young woman.

Leg Irons – Wide rings of metal that were attached to each other (usually by chain) and fastened around prisoner’s ankles.

Line – Any rope used on a ship, perhaps in the rigging or to tow something.

Log – A daily record written to record where a ship travels and what has happened on it.

Lookout – The person in charge of watching out for signs of land or other ships.

Loot – Gold and riches usually stolen.

Lubber or landlubber – A person who likes being on land, often used as an insult.

Man-of-War – A ship built specifically for fighting.

Marooned – Left alone, usually on a deserted island.

Marque – Official permission to catch enemy merchant ships.

Mast – The upright pole on a ship that the sails and ropes are attached to.

Mate or Matey – Friend

Me – Used instead of ‘my’.

Me beauty – How you would address a pretty lady or something important to you.

Me hearties – Friends.

Merchant – A person who sells things.

Merchant Ship – A ship carrying cargo to be sold.

Mutiny – When a ship’s crew refuse to follow the captain’s orders.

Navigate – To steer and guide a ship from one place to another.

New World - America

Peg leg – An artificial leg, usually wooden.

Pieces of Eight – An old Spanish silver coin.

Pillage – To rob.

Pirate – A ‘robber of the sea’.

Plunder – To steal.

Poop deck – The floor that is also the roof of a cabin built on the upper deck.

Poop cabin – A room built on the top deck of a ship, often the Captain’s.

Port – The left side when facing the ship’s pointy end, also a strong alcoholic drink, and the area of land next to where ships are left when the pirates go ashore.

Pox – Disease.

Pressgang – To force somebody to become a member of a ship’s crew.

Privateer – English, French or Dutch sailors allowed by their Government to attack enemy ships.

Prow – The pointy end of a ship.

Quartermaster – The sailor second-in-charge to the Captain.

Rigging – The ropes, mast and sails on a ship.

Rope’s end – To whip/flog.

Rum – Said to be a pirate’s favourite alcoholic drink, also used to describe things that were a little weird or odd.

Sail ho! – ‘I see a sail.’ This also means, ‘I see a ship’ because the sail is always seen first.

Salt or Old Salt – Somebody who has been a sailor for a long time.

Schooner - A ship with 2 masts, popular with pirates.

Scurvy – A disease many sailors got because they didn’t eat enough vitamin C. Also an insult, as in ‘ye scurvy landlubber’.

Scuttle – To make a hole in a ship’s hull or to sink the ship.

Shantey – The songs pirates sing while they are working. (Also spelt ‘chantey’ or ‘shanty’.)

Shanty – The songs pirates sing while they are working. (Also spelt ‘chantey’ or ‘shantey’.)

Shipshape – To be neat and tidy.

Shiver me timbers – ‘What a surprise.’

Sink me – ‘What a surprise.’

Sloop - A ship with 2 masts that was good in shallow water.

Smartly – Quickly.

Splice the mainbrace – To have an alcoholic drink or two.

Spyglass – A telescope.

Starboard – The right side of the ship (if you are facing the pointed end).

Sutler – The merchant on land who sells pirates all the supplies and things they need to repair their ship.

Swab – To clean something or a name for somebody you don’t like very much.

Swag – Gold and riches.

To be three sheets to the wind – To have drunk too much alcohol.

Titivate – To clean up and make neat.

Walk the plank – To be forced to walk along and off the end of a plank that has been placed over the side of a ship.

Weevil – A kind of beetle that can eat your food before you do.

Weigh anchor – To lift the anchor and be ready to sail.

Wench – A woman.

Ye – Used instead of ‘you’.

Yer – Used instead of ‘your’.