▪ I. rudder, n.
(ˈrʌdə(r))
Forms: α. 1 rothor, roðor, roðr, 2 roðer, roþur, 3–5 roþer, 4–7 rother; 5 rothere, rothir, -yr, royther. β. 4 roothur, 6–7 roother, 7 routher. γ. 5 Sc. ruthire, ruthyr, 6 Sc. ruthir, 6–7 (9 Sc. and north.) ruther; 6 rither. δ. 5 rodyr, rod(d)er; 5 rudyr, 6 -ir, 5–7 ruder, 6– rudder.
[OE. ródor, = OFris. roder (WFris. roer), MDu. roder, roeder (Du. roer), MLG. roder, rôr (LG. rôr), OHG. ruadar, ruodar (MHG. ruoder, G. ruder):—Teut. *rōþra-, from the stem of row v. MSw. rodher, Fær. róður, Da. and Norw. ror in this sense are from LG.; the ON. róðr (Icel. róður, Norw. ror) denotes the act of rowing.]
† 1. A paddle or oar used for steering or propelling a vessel. Obs.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. P. 178 Palmula, steorroðor. Ibid. T. 206 Tonsa, roðr. c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. lviii. 445 Ne mæᵹ hit [sc. a ship] no stille ᵹestondan, buton hit ankor ᵹehæbbe, oððe mon mid roðrum onᵹean tio. c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 167 Palmula, roðres blæd. a 1100 Voc. ibid. 311 Remus, roðer. a 1300 K. Horn 202 Dai hit is igon and oþer, Wiþute sail and roþer. 1483 Cath. Angl. 313/1 A Ruder (Rudyr, A.), vbi a are. 1602 Drayton Heroical Ep. 82 b, The Swans with musick that the Roothers make..come gliding on the lake. |
2. a. A broad, flat piece or framework of wood or metal, attached vertically to the sternpost of a boat or ship in such a way that it can be employed in steering it. Also in
fig. contexts.
| α 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 4624 A shyppe þat ys turned with þe roþer. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 419 Hurrok, oþ er hande-helme hasped on roþer. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. xii. (Bodl. MS.), In swymmynge he vseþ þat one foote in stede of an ore and þe oþer in stede of a roþer. 1447 Rolls of Parlt. V. 135/1 They toke..the Rother of the Ship, the Saile, and all the Bonnettis. 1486 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 14 Tymbre..in makyng of a newe Rother. Ibid. 15 A pyntell & a gogeon for the Rother. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. James 33 Whither so ever the shippe maisters mynde that governeth the rother will set it. 1622 R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 188 His boate fitted with sayle, oares,..windles and rother. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 37 The Barke abandoned of her Rother, ranne whither the wind carried her. 1682 Lond. Gaz. No. 1720/7 While our Rother held, we bore away W. and upon every lift of the Sea, went off. |
| fig. 1340 Ayenb. 160 Þe roþer of þe ssipe of þe zaule. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 243 The Schip of love hath lost his Rother. |
| β 13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 716 Into þat schip þer longed a Rooþur. 1647 Lilly Chr. Astrol. xxvi. 158 The Roother of Sterne of the Ship. |
| transf. 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 269 The bright starre in the foote of the roother of Argus. |
| γ c 1470 Henry Wallace vii. 1067 A hundreth schippys, that ruthyr bur and ayr. 1513 Douglas æneis x. v. 8 Eneas..sat in propyr persoun..To steir hys carvell and to rewill the ruther. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xvii. 122 Vagabounds we wander in miserie & wo, As ship but Ruther. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 21 The oars are cleene splintred, the helme is from ruther vnhafted. 1613 M. Ridley Magn. Bodies 16 As a ship upon the water is directed even forward by the sterne and ruther. a 1656 Ussher Ann. (1658) 860 They burned the owners themselves in a fire made of the ruthers, oares, and plankes, of the ships. 1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 38 And sieg'd his boat frae stem to ruther. |
| δ c 1440 Promp. Parv. 438/2 Rodyr, of a schyppe,..amplustre. c 1450 Castle Persev. 1741 (Macro Plays), I go..swyfter þanne schyp with rodyr! 1457 Nottingham Rec. II. 366 To mak a rodder of. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Acts xxvii, They toke vp the ankers..and leused withall the joyntes of the sterne and the rudder. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 108 She broke the rudder of the shyppe in peeces. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. 52 To bring his Sailes and the Rudder of the Shippes a lande. 1634–5 Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 169 The helm consists of rudder, tiller, and whipstaff, and except the ship move and make way the rudder is of no use. 1668 Hopkins Serm., Vanity (1685) 118 Overflowing estates are but like huge enormous rudders, that rather serve to sink the ship, than steer it. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. iii. 51 The pilot should direct the vessel by the use of the rudder he has fitted to it. 1774 Goldsmith Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 12 The tail, which is composed of quill feathers,..guides the animal's flight like a rudder. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 297 The oars and rudders of vessels are levers of the second kind. 1877 Bryant Odyss. v. 307 He shaped a rudder next, To guide the raft along her course. |
| transf. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 277 The natatorial limb becomes a rudder as well as an oar. |
b. fig. One who or that which guides, directs, or controls.
| α c 1400 Beryn 212, I shuld be a rothir To set ȝewe in governaunce. 1509 Hawes Pastime of Pleasure xxix. (1555) R iij, Let not thy lady of thy harte be rother. 1509 ― Joyful Med. 29 God onmypotent Whiche is aboue, of all the worlde the rother. 1616 J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. vi. 159 Yet so as wisdome holdinge our loves rother, Wee lovinglie and iustelie yeeld t' each other. 1637 H. Sydenham Serm. 20 Speech is the..sterne and rother of the soule. |
| β 1613 J. Davies (Heref.) Muses Teares Wks. (Grosart) I. 8/2 Eloquence (the Routher of our Minde, Swaying th' Affects thereof, which way it lists). 1658 S. Lennard tr. Charron's Wisd. iii. cliii. (1670) 523 It [sc. eloquence] is..the stern or roother of our souls, which disposeth the heart and affections. |
| δ a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 8 Ane new courteour that rullit so the ruddar and causit the king to discord with his broder. 1606 S. Gardiner Bk. Angling 3 The Rudder wherwith the Arke of Gods Church is guided, is the word of God. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 457 Rhime the Rudder is of Verses, With which like Ships they stear their courses. 1685 Barrow Wks. 1830 I. 363 Speech is indeed the rudder that steereth human affairs. 1727 Philip Quarll 79 The elevated Sailors..had lost the Rudder of their Reason. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XIII. 506/1 The Tail is the director, or rudder, of birds in their flight. 1868 H. Law Beacons of Bible (1869) 119 It [sc. vain-glory] is the common rudder of man's life. |
c. The representation of a rudder.
| 1538 Leland Itin. (1769) VII. 87 The Windowes be full of Rudders. Peradventure it was his Badge or Token of the Amiraltye. |
d. An analogous flat movable structure used for controlling the motion of an aircraft; now
usu. a vertical flap, hinged at its leading edge, forming part of the tailplane of an aeroplane.
The ‘boat’ in
quot. 1804 is the gondola of a balloon.
| 1804 G. Cayley in J. L. Pritchard Sir G. Cayley (1961) 220 Fixed upon a universal joint a Rudder of considerable length opposing both an horizontal and vertical surface..intersecting each other in right angles to the air. A handle to direct this Rudder must communicate with the Boat. 1843 Mechanics' Mag. XXXVIII. 278 The broad horizontal rudder, or tail, H, capable of being turned on its hinge to any angle, at pleasure, gives the power of ascent and descent when the propellers are used, and forms also the chief means of stability in the path of the flight. The small vertical rudder I, is for the purpose of lateral steerage. 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 321/1 M. Pénaud succeeded in overcoming the difficulty in question by the invention of what he designates his automatic rudder. This consists of a small elastic aero-plane placed aft or behind the principal aero-plane which is also elastic. 1910 R. Ferris How it Flies vi. 116 The rudder for steering to left or right is mounted at the extreme rear end of the body. 1966 D. Stinton Anat. Aeroplane viii. 163 Aerobatic aeroplanes usually have a large portion of the fin surface lying ahead of the tailplane, or a large portion of the fin and rudder lying behind its trailing edge. 1969 K. Munson Pioneer Aircraft 1903–14 9 The operator lies prone on the lower surface, his hips resting in the cradle, and his hands grasping the roller, D1, which actuates the front rudder, D. |
e. Use or turning of the rudder, the extent to which the rudder is turned.
| 1918 W. G. McMinnies Pract. Flying 218 If you are turning to the right and notice wind striking your left cheek, you are side-slipping outwards, so give a little more bank or take off some rudder. 1936 W. H. McCormick Mod. Bk. Aeroplanes x. 86 In order to turn an aeroplane to the right, right rudder is put on by moving the right-hand end of the rudder bar gently forward by means of the right foot. 1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose ii. 49 She needed quite a bit of rudder. 1978 J. S. Evans Pilot's Manual iv. 151 Let it be assumed that our aeroplane is in cruising flight, with sufficient rudder applied to prevent propwash-induced yaw. |
3. Brewing. A kind of paddle used in stirring malt in the mash-tub. Also
transf. (
quot. 1847).
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 328/1 Maschel, or rothyr, or masch⁓scherel, remulus, palmula, mixtorium. 1566 Withals Dict. 43 A rudder or instrument to stire the mashe fat with, rutabulum. 1615 G. Markham Eng. Housew. ii. ix. (1668) 187 Let..another with a mash rudder stirre some of the flower with it. 1648 Inventory in Spottiswoode Misc. (1844) I. 372 Ane maskeine fatt, ane taptrie and ane maskine rudder. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 322 You must press it down with your Hands or Rudder, with which you use to stir your Malt or Moaks. 1763 Museum Rust. I. 202 This is to be well mashed, and stirred about with the rudder for near half an hour. 1847 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VIII. ii. 329 The stirrer, or ‘rudder’, is similar to those used by brewers. |
4. A mining implement: (see
quot.).
| 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict., Rudder, an Instrument of Iron, or at least the end of it; 'tis much like the Head of a Lance,..but made somewhat broader..; the handle about two Foot long; this we use to let in the ends of Sliders or Head-trees. |
5. a. Ornith. = rectrix 2. (
Cf. 6 b.)
| 1884 Coues N. Amer. Birds 115 Rectrices, Rudders, or true tail-feathers,..are usually stiff, well-pronounced feathers, pennaceous to the very base of the vexilla. |
b. The tail of an otter.
| [1903 H. Johnston Brit. Mammals vii. 138 The otter..swims and dives with great facility, and propels itself with all four limbs, using the tail as a great rudder.] 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 694 Horses' hoofs, deer slots, fox, hare, or otter pads cured and mounted in various styles; also fox brushes and otter rudders. 1941 H. Cory Mammals Brit. Isles 34 When swimming submerged the animal uses the forefeet for paddling and the hind feet, assisted by the rudder, for steering. 1965 P. Wayre Wind in Reeds xi. 151 Canadian otters are larger and bulkier [than British ones] with broader and deeper heads and thicker rudders. 1976 Scotsman 24 Dec. (Weekend Suppl.) 2/2 He [sc. an otter] was coiled..with his jaws clenched, and his rudder curled round the webs of his hindfeet. |
6. attrib. and
Comb. a. Attrib. with words denoting some part of the rudder or apparatus connected with it, as
rudder-band,
rudder-case,
rudder-chain,
rudder pedal,
rudder post;
rudder-bar, a bar operated by the pilot's feet which controls the position of an aircraft's rudder.
For enumerations and descriptions of many such terms see A. Young
Naut. Dict. (1846 and 1863), Smyth
Sailor's Word-bk. (1867), Knight
Dict. Mech. (1875 and 1884).
| 1526 Tindale Acts xxvii. 40 They..lowsed the rudder bondes and hoysed vppe the mayne sayle to the wynde. 1598 W. Philip tr. Linschoten 167 So that our Ruther-staffe brake and two more..broke likewise..on being put into it. a 1620 Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 10 The force of seas hath broke the Rudder-band. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 12 The Rudder..is..hung at the sterne vpon hookes and hinges, they call Pintels and Gudgions, or Rudder-irons. Ibid. vi. 28 The Rudder rope is reeued thorow the stern post, and goeth thorow the head of the Rudder. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 82 To sheath the Rudder-Post. 1703 R. Neve City & C. Purch. [212] 235 Rother⁓nails..are principally to fasten Rother Irons to Ships, and require a full Head. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Boite du gouvernail, the rudder-case, or the box placed above the rudder-head,..through which the tiller passes. 1796 Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1846) VII. p. xxxix, The ship..shipped a deal of water, which blew up the rudder coat. 1805 Capt. Crumby Let. in 19th Cent. No. 273. 722 Captain Cooke joined us in partaking of some cold meat, &c. on the rudder head. 1837 Marryat Dog Fiend x, He makes his appearance at the rudder-chains. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. i, The man, with the rudder-lines slack in his hands,..kept an eager look out. 1874 Thearle Naval Archit. 67 Rudder-pendants, which secure the rudder to the vessel. 1889 Welch Text Bk. Naval Archit. xiii. 137 The rudder framing tapers in thickness from the front edge. 1912 Q. Rev. July 240 Machines like Dunne's, which have no separate rudder-bar allowing of foot-correction. 1918 W. G. McMinnies Pract. Flying 234 Rudder post, the upright member to which the rudder is hinged. 1919 Pippard & Pritchard Aeroplane Struct. v. 36 In some aeroplanes..the rudder bar is replaced by pedals and directional control is obtained by pressing the appropriate pedal. 1935 C. G. Burge Compl. Bk. Aviation 537 Rudder post, the main vertical member of a rudder to which the rudder hinges are attached. 1959 Rudder-bar [see 'n3, 'n']. 1966 D. Stinton Anat. Aeroplane viii. 139 If hinge-moments are too high to be handled efficiently, artificial forces may be transmitted through the stick and rudder-pedals by an artificial feel-system. 1976 B. Jackson Flameout iv. 63 The flight data recorder..tape-recorded..the pilot's movements of the control yokes and rudder pedals, [etc.]. |
b. Attrib., etc., in other uses, as
rudder-fan,
rudder flutter,
rudder-man,
rudder-part,
rudder power,
rudder-quill,
rudder-tail;
rudder-making;
rudder-like adj.| 1549 Compl. Scotl. vi. 41 Than the master cryit on the rudir man. 1611 Cotgr., Heaulmiere, the Rudder-part of a ship. 1681 Grew Musæum i. iv. i. 61 His [sc. a humming-bird's] Tail an inch and ½. In which there are ten black Rudder-Quills 1/4 of an inch broad. 1804 J. Larwood No Gun Boats 14 Mast and rudder making at the root of the trees. 1835 Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. II. xvii. 163 The rudder-tail here described is that of the male bull-finch. 1851 Mantell Petrifactions v. §2. 421 The rudder-like, or heterocercal tail, is shown in many of the Ichthyolites. 1915 S. H. Carden in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1972) III. Compan. i. 625 Large rudder power makes her sufficiently handy although starboard engines out of action. 1928 Daily Tel. 13 Mar. 11/3 The machine dived into the sea from a height of about 100 ft. after developing what appeared to be rudder flutter. 1930 J. S. Huxley Bird-Watching vi. 102 They became birds through the evolution of feathers out of scales... The other peculiarities of modern birds, such as..the transformation of their originally long and awkward tail, like a kite's, into an efficient rudder-fan..came later. |
c. In specific names of birds or fishes:
rudder-bird,
-duck,
-perch (see
quots.).
| 1828–32 Webster (citing Latham), Rudder-perch, a small fish..[which] is said to follow the rudders of ships in the warm parts of the Atlantic. 1884 Coues N. Amer. Birds 715 Erismatura,..Rudder Ducks. Remarkably distinguished from other Fuligulinæ..by the stiffened, linear-lanceolate tail-feathers. 1894 Newton Dict. Birds 797 Rudder-bird or -duck, a name for Erismatura rubida, one of the Spiny-tailed Ducks. |
▪ II. rudder, v. (
ˈrʌdə(r))
[f. the n.] trans. and intr. To steer; to use the rudder. Also
fig.| 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Wealth, Steam..already..is ruddering the balloon, and the next war will be fought in the air. 1875 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports ii. viii. i. (ed. 12) 613 In sailing to windward, a vessel not only requires her sails to be very carefully trimmed, but she must be ‘ruddered’ with equal care. 1940 ‘N. Shute’ Landfall 210 He glanced quickly at the cruiser to check the direction, ruddering slightly to maintain his course. 1942 Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 65 Do a quick barrel half roll..pulling the stick back..when you are on your side, and then rudder into a steep dive. 1952 M. Tripp Faith is Windsock ii. 35 Hamish pulled back on the throttles, strangling life from the engines; Bergen ruddered and braked hard. 1954 W. Faulkner Fable 107 He..ruddered the tracer right onto it. 1960 S. Plath Colossus 66 A pigeon rudders down. 1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 71 That afternoon,..ruddered by perceptive questions, encouraging smiles and apt generalizations from myself, Rachel Noyes told the story of her life. |
▪ III. rudder variant of
ridder n.1 and v.
1;
obs. form of
rother.