Etymologically
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overboard

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌbɔː(ɹ)d/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English over bord,[2][3][4] inherited from Old English ofer bord, a phrase made up of ofer (“over”) and bord (“side of a ship”),[2][5][4][6] the same word as in starboard.[7] Weekley notes that Old English wrote it as a phrase,[8] and the OED that it has been spelled solid since the late 18th century.[9] The OED compares Middle Dutch overboort (modern overboord) and Old Swedish ouer bordhe (modern över bord).[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Over the side of a ship into the water: about 1000, in Ælfric's Catholic Homilies,[9][2] where sailors wurpon heora waru ofor bord, threw their wares overboard.[6]

Semantic evolution

Middle English also had a form overboards, as in the alliterative Morte Arthure (composed before 1400), where knights are cast ouer burdez.[9] From 1627 the word was also used of position, outside a ship or in the water around it.[9] The figurative throw overboard, to cast aside or reject, is recorded from 1588 in the OED,[9][10] but only in the 1640s in Etymonline.[5] A transitive verb overboard, to throw overboard, appears in a letter of the Earl of Leicester (1585–6).[9] The modern go overboard, to go to extremes or be too enthusiastic, is first found in Damon Runyon in 1931,[9][5][7] though Green's Dictionary of Slang has the adjective overboard, very keen, in American slang from 1927.[11]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – over the side of a ship into the water.[9][2]
  • 1585 – verb, to throw overboard (obsolete).[9]
  • 1588 – throw overboard, to reject or discard.[9]
  • 1627 – situated outside a ship.[9]
  • 1927 – American slang, over-enthusiastic.[11]
  • 1931 – go overboard, to go too far, in Damon Runyon.[9][5][7]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Over the side of a ship or boat and into the water: A crate of oranges went overboard in the storm.[12][4][9]
  2. go overboard: to go to extremes, or to be too enthusiastic about something.[12][4][9]
  3. throw overboard: to reject or abandon.[12][9][10]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  7. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins