rudder
pronunciation
How to pronounce rudder in British English:
UK [ˈrʌdə(r)]
How to pronounce rudder in American English:
US [ˈrʌdɚ]
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- Noun:
- a hinged vertical airfoil mounted at the tail of an aircraft and used to make horizontal course changes
- (nautical) steering mechanism consisting of a hinged vertical plate mounted at the stern of a vessel
Word Origin
- rudder
- rudder: [OE] Rudder comes from the same source as English row ‘use oars’ – prehistoric Germanic *rō- ‘steer’. Indeed it originally denoted an ‘oar used for steering’; the modern application to a fixed steering surface did not emerge until the 14th century. Its west Germanic ancestor *rōthra- also produced German ruder and Dutch roer.=> row
- rudder (n.)
- mid-15c. alteration of Middle English rother, from Old English roðor "paddle, oar," from Proto-Germanic *rothru- (cognates: Old Frisian roðer, Middle Low German roder, Middle Dutch roeder, Dutch roer, Old High German ruodar, German Ruder "oar"), from *ro- "steer" (see row (v.)) + suffix -þra, used to form neutral names of tools. Meaning "broad, flat piece of wood attached to the stern of a boat and guided by a tiller for use in steering" is from c. 1300. For shift of -th- to -d- compare burden (n.1), murder (n.); simultaneous but opposite to the movement that turned -d- to -th- in father (n.), etc.
Example
- 1. Her prosthetic fin acts like a rudder and keeps her stable .
- 2. Others blame a twist in the rudder : the policymakers who steer the economy are distracted and divided , preoccupied with this year 's handover of power , which is not going as smoothly as hoped .
- 3. The first recorded use of rudder technology in the west was in 1180 .
- 4. It produces lift and functions as both a pitch elevator and yaw rudder .
- 5. Though the new rudder was fitted at tremendous speed , it was impossible for the cutty sark to win .