rudder

See also: Rudder

English

Etymology

From Middle English rodder, rother, ruder, from Old English rōþor (“oar, rudder”), from Proto-West Germanic *rōþr, from Proto-Germanic *rōþrą (“oar, rudder”) (compare Dutch and West Frisian roer, German Ruder), from Proto-Germanic *rōaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“to row”) + Proto-Germanic *-þrą, *-þraz, instrumental suffix. Akin to Old English rōwan (“to row”). More at rōwan, -þor.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹʌdə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹʌdɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌdə(ɹ)

Noun

rudder (plural rudders)

1. (nautical) An underwater vane used to steer a vessel. The rudder is controlled by means of a wheel, tiller or other apparatus (modern vessels can be controlled even with a joystick or an autopilot).
2. (aeronautics) A control surface on the vertical stabilizer of a fixed-wing aircraft or an autogyro. On some craft, the entire vertical stabilizer comprises the rudder. The rudder is controlled by foot-operated control pedals.
3. A riddle or sieve.
4. (figurative) That which resembles a rudder as a guide or governor; that which guides or governs the course.
   • (Can we date this quote by Hudibras and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     For rhyme the rudder is of verses.

5. The tail of an otter.
   • 1927, Henry William Williamson, Tarka the Otter, Chapter 19:

     He sniffed Tarka’s hair from rudder to neck, and his nose remained at the neck. It was a strange smell, and he sniffed carefully, not wanting to touch the fur with his nostrils.

Derived terms

• balance rudder
• bow rudder
• drop rudder
• Dutch rudder
• rudder authority
• rudder blade
• rudder chain
• rudder coat
• ruddered
• rudderfish
• rudderhead
• rudderhole
• rudderless
• rudderlike
• rudderon
• rudder pendants
• rudderpost
• rudder roll
• rudderstock
• rudder stock
• ruddervator

Translations

underwater vane used to steer a vessel

• Albanian: timon (sq) m
• Arabic: دَفَّة f (daffa); (chiefly eastern dialects also) سُكَّان m (sukkān)

  Moroccan Arabic: دمان m (dmān)

• Armenian: ղեկ (hy) (ġek)
• Belarusian: руль m (rulʹ)
• Bikol Central: ugit
• Bulgarian: рул m (rul), кормило (bg) n (kormilo)
• Catalan: timó (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 舵 (zh) (duò), 船舵 (zh) (chuánduò)

• Czech: kormidlo (cs) n
• Danish: ror (da) n
• Dutch: roer (nl) n
• Esperanto: direktilo, rudro
• Finnish: peräsin (fi), ruori (fi)
• French: gouvernail (fr) m, safran (fr) m
• Friulian: tamon m
• Galician: leme (gl) m, temón m, peltre m
• Georgian: საჭე (ka) (sač̣e)
• German: Ruder (de) n, Steuer (de) n, Steuerruder (de) n
• Greek: πηδάλιο (el) n (pidálio)

  Ancient: πηδάλιον n (pēdálion)

• Hindi: अरित्र (hi) (aritra), पतवार (hi) f (patvār)
• Hungarian: kormánylapát (hu)
• Indonesian: daun kemudi, kemudi sepak (id)
• Italian: timone (it) m, timone orizzontale m
• Japanese: 舵 (ja) (かじ, kaji)
• Javanese: setir (jv)
• Korean: 키 (ko) (ki)
• Latin: gubernāculum n
• Macedonian: кормило n (kormilo)
• Malay: rudder
• Maori: urunga, urungi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ror (no) n

  Nynorsk: ror n

• Ottoman Turkish: دومن (dümen)
• Persian: خلاشه (fa) (xalâše), سکان (fa) (sokân)
• Plautdietsch: Scheppstia n
• Polish: ster (pl) m
• Portuguese: leme (pt) m
• Romanian: cârmă (ro) f
• Russian: руль (ru) m (rulʹ), корми́ло (ru) n (kormílo) (dated or poetic)
• Sardinian: timona, timone, timoni
• Scottish Gaelic: stiùir f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кормило n

  Roman: kormilo (sh) n

• Sicilian: timuni m
• Slovak: kormidlo n
• Slovene: krmilo (sl) n
• Spanish: timón (es) m, gobernalle (es) m
• Swahili: usukani (sw)
• Swedish: roder (sv) n
• Thai: หางเสือ (th) (hǎang-sʉ̌ʉa), หางเสือเรือ (hǎang-sʉ̌ʉa-rʉʉa)
• Turkish: dümen (tr)
• Ukrainian: руль m (rulʹ), стерно́ n (sternó)
• Venetan: timón m
• Welsh: llyw (cy) m

control surface of an aircraft

• Arabic: سُكَّان m (sukkān), دَفَّة f (daffa)
• Armenian: ղեկ (hy) (ġek)
• Breton: stalaf m
• Catalan: timó (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 舵 (zh) (duò), 方向舵 (zh) (fāngxiàngduò)

• Czech: kormidlo (cs) n
• Danish: ror (da) n, haleror n, sideror n
• Dutch: roer (nl) n
• Esperanto: direktilo
• Estonian: pöördetüür
• Finnish: peräsin (fi), sivuperäsin
• French: gouverne (fr) f
• Georgian: საჭე (ka) (sač̣e)
• German: Steuerruder (de) n, Ruder (de) n
• Greek: πηδάλιο (el) n (pidálio)
• Indonesian: kemudi arah
• Italian: timone (it) m, timone di coda m, timone di profondità m, timone di direzione m
• Japanese: 舵 (ja) (kaji), 方向舵 (ほうこうだ, hōkōda)
• Korean: 방향타 (ko) (banghyangta)
• Norwegian: ror (no) n, haleror n, sideror n
• Polish: ster kierunku
• Portuguese: leme (pt) m
• Russian: руль поворо́та m (rulʹ povoróta), руль направле́ния m (rulʹ napravlénija)
• Spanish: timón (es) m, gobernalle (es) m
• Swedish: roder (sv) n
• Thai: หางเสือเลี้ยว (hǎang-sʉ̌ʉa-líao)
• Turkish: dümen (tr)

See also

• tiller

Middle English

Noun

rudder

1. Alternative form of rother (“bovine”)