board
pronunciation
How to pronounce board in British English:
UK [bɔːd]
How to pronounce board in American English:
US [bɔːrd]
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- Noun:
- a committee having supervisory powers
- a flat piece of material designed for a special purpose
- a stout length of sawn timber; made in a wide variety of sizes and used for many purposes
- a board on which information can be displayed to public view
- a flat portable surface (usually rectangular) designed for board games
- food or meals in general
- electrical device consisting of an insulated panel containing switches and dials and meters for controlling other electrical devices
- a printed circuit that can be inserted into expansion slots in a computer to increase the computer's capabilities
- a table at which meals are served
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- Verb:
- get on board of (trains, buses, ships, aircraft, etc.)
- live and take one's meals at or in
- lodge and take meals (at)
- provide food and lodging (for)
Word Origin
- board
- board: [OE] Old English bord had a wide range of meanings, whose two main strands (‘plank’ and ‘border, side of a ship’) reveal that it came from two distinct sources: Germanic *bortham and *borthaz respectively (despite their similarity, they have not been shown to be the same word). Related forms in other Germanic languages that point up the dichotomy are Dutch bord ‘shelf’ and boord ‘border, side of a ship’.The second, ‘edge’ element of board (which is probably related to border) now survives in English only in seaboard (literally the ‘edge of the sea’) and in variations on the phrase on board ship (whose original reference to the ship’s sides is nowadays perceived as relating to the deck). Board ‘food’ (as in ‘board and lodging’), and hence boarder, are metaphorical applications of board ‘table’.=> border
- board (n.1)
- Old English bord "a plank, flat surface," from Proto-Germanic *burdam (cognates: Old Norse borð "plank," Dutch bord "board," Gothic fotu-baurd "foot-stool," German Brett "plank"), from PIE *bhrdh- "board," from root *bherdh- "to cut." See also board (n.2), with which this is so confused as practically to form one word (if indeed they were not the same word all along). A board is thinner than a plank, and generally less than 2.5 inches thick. The transferred meaning "food" (late 14c.) is an extension of the late Old English sense of "table" (compare boarder, boarding); hence, also, above board "honest, open" (1610s). A further extension is to "table where council is held" (1570s), then transferred to "leadership council, council (that meets at a table)," 1610s.
- board (n.2)
- "side of ship," Old English bord "border, rim, ship's side," from Proto-Germanic *bordaz (cognates: Old Saxon bord, Dutch boord, German Bord, Old High German bart, Old Norse barð), perhaps from the same source as board (n.1), but not all sources accept this. Connected to border; see also starboard. If not etymologically related to board (n.1), the two forms represented in English by these words were nonetheless confused at an early date in most Germanic languages, a situation made worse in English because this Germanic root also was adopted as Medieval Latin bordus (source of Italian and Spanish bordo). It also entered Old French as bort "beam, board, plank; side of a ship" (12c., Modern French bord), either from Medieval Latin or Frankish, and from thence it came over with the Normans to mingle with its native cousins. By now the senses are inextricably tangled. Some etymology dictionaries treat them as having been the same word all along.
- board (v.)
- verb senses derived from various senses of board (n.1) and board (n.2) include "come alongside" (a ship), mid-15c. (from n.2); "put boards on, frame with boards," late 14c. (implied in boarded, from n.1); " to get onto" (a ship), 1590s, transferred from mid-19c. to stages, railway cars, aircraft, etc. (from n.2). Meaning "to be supplied with food and lodging" is from 1550s (from n.1 in transferred sense). Transitive meaning "provide with daily meals and lodging" is from 1590s. Related: Boarded; boarding.
Example
- 1. The board member didn 't like it .
- 2. So demands for a second board are considerable .
- 3. The board revisited the question of water consumption in 2004 .
- 4. Actually , add most board games to this list .
- 5. The state board of education plans to vote on the guidelines next month .