Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 107, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 May 1920 — Origin, of Nautical Terms. [ARTICLE]

Origin, of Nautical Terms.

What Is the origin of the nautical term “dead reckoning?” Perhaps the general impression is that the prefix “dead” is so common in technical terms related to the ship and its rigging that it la merely the mariner's way of expressing himself. There are “dead-eyes,” “dead-lights,” “deadwood,” “dead-deer.” “dead-flat,” and a host of others, and all savor more of tiie ozone than of etymological necessity. But there is a peculiar interest in the origin of “dead reckoning,” which has always been regarded as one of the most puzzling terms to trace. The eld-fashioned method of keeping the qhlp’s log, before the admiralty supplied specially printed books, was to use small, loose sheets of paper, ruled into several columns. Hie latitude column being too narrow to admit the words “deduced latitude” in full at the head, the words were abbreviated to “Bed. Lat.” “Ded,” easily became corrupted ’ into “dead,” and hence the singular phrase for describing th* mariner’s “deduced" position on th* high seas.—Christian Science Monitor.