forecastle

English

Alternative forms

• focastle, fo'castle, fo'c'stle, fo'c's'le (single, double and triple contraction)

Etymology

From Middle English forecastel, forcastel, (whence also Anglo-French forechasteil), equivalent to fore- +‎ castle. Compare Dutch voorkasteel.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfoʊk.səl/, /ˈfoɹ.kæ.səl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

forecastle (plural forecastles)

2. (nautical) 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.

   Antonyms: aftcastle, aftercastle

   Holonyms: watercraft, vessel, vessel

   Comeronyms: well deck, foredeck, afterdeck, poop deck

   • 1904, Jack London, chapter 32, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC:

     My knife was at my hip. I returned to my hut for the shotgun, made sure it was loaded, and went down to the Ghost. With some difficulty, and at the expense of a wetting to the waist, I climbed aboard. The forecastle scuttle was open. I paused to listen for the breathing of the men, but there was no breathing.

Derived terms

• forecastled
• forecastle lamp
• forecastleman
• monkey forecastle

Translations

nautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow

• Bulgarian: бак m (bak)
• Catalan: castell (ca) de proa m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 前甲板 (zh) (qiánjiǎbǎn)

• Danish: bak c, folkelukaf c
• Dutch: voorkasteel n
• Finnish: etukastelli (fi), pakka (fi)
• French: gaillard (fr) d'avant m
• Galician: castelo (gl) m
• German: Vorschiff (de) n, Bugkastell n
• Hebrew: בֵּית קַדְמָה (he) m (bet kadmá), צוּר חַרְטוֹם (he) m (tsur khartóm)
• Ido: kastelo avana (io), avana kastelo (io)
• Irish: deic thosaigh f
• Japanese: 船首楼 (せんしゅろう, senshurō)
• Manx: cashtal toshee m
• Middle English: forstage
• Norman: châté m, gaillard d'avant m
• Norwegian: ruff m

  Bokmål: bakk (no) m, bakkdekk n

• Polish: bak (pl) m, bakdek m
• Portuguese: castelo de proa m
• Russian: бак (ru) m (bak), полуба́к (ru) m (polubák), носово́й ку́брик m (nosovój kúbrik)
• Spanish: castillo de proa m
• Swedish: backdäck n, back (sv) c
• Welsh: fforcas m

crew's quarters

• Finnish: skanssi (fi)
• Hebrew: מְגוּרֵי חַרְטוֹם (he) m pl (megurey khartom), צוּר הַחַרְטוֹם (he) m (tsur hakhartom), בֵּית הַקָדְמָה (he) m (beit hakadmah)
• Irish: caiseal tosaigh m
• Polish: forkasztel m, dziobówka f
• Swedish: skans (sv) c