In English, the right side of a ship (and everything beyond said side) is called «starboard». I know enough about sailing and about stars to know that stars can't have anything to do with that name, and thus I got to wonder: maybe «starboard» came from Spanish «estribor»?
Conversely, in Spanish, the right side of a ship (etc.) is called «estribor». Once again, I know that it can't possibly have anything to do with a «estribo» (which is where you put your feet when you ride a horse). So maybe it's the other way around, and «estribor» comes from English «starboard»?
I've done my fair bit of research:
- Merriam-Webster English dictionary says «starboard» comes from Old English «stēorbord» and is first found in writing before s. XII.
- Google's NGRAM has nothing about the Middle and Old English words, though. It claims it has results for «starboard» in books from 1550, but when you query for the actual books, only books from s. XVII onwards come up.
- RAE Spanish dictionary says «estribor» comes from old French «estribord». However, I've checked the etymology for modern French «tribord» on some French dictionaries and they say it comes from «stirbord» instead; no references to «estribord» anywhere.
- NGRAM has nothing for «estribor» before ~1740...
- ... but CORDE has registered uses for «estribor» from as early as 1527. Then again, it seems strange that «estribor» was already written like that in early 16th century.
- Finally, the Lexicon Tetraglotton, an English-Italian-French-Spanish dictionary from 1660, says Spanish for «starboard» in s. XVII was «estroiborda». Probably a mistake, but there's that.
So... I'm aware that, most certainly, both words come from some old Indo-Germanic-Something root meaning «the side of the steering stick». But which one appeared first in its current form in their own language? And has any of them, directly or indirectly, influenced the way the other one is written today?
