abaft
/əˈbɑːft
/Nautical
adverb
In or behind the stern of a ship: a line of clouds was spotted abaft by the starboard lookout...
- The swell was either just abaft or on the beam and at night you couldn't see it.
- Terry looked abaft himself and saw that the fearsome man had indeed gone.
- The blizzard made it impossible to see anything abaft of the bridge.
preposition
Nearer the stern than; behind: the yacht has a shower just abaft the galley...
- With this security he had established as his right a caboose abaft the funnel in the midships Bofors gunshield where the gun had been removed.
- Dropping down abaft the bridge, the first thing to come into view was the funnel.
- When a mainsail was set up in the correct place abaft the genoa, the strain on the headsail sheet was observed to rise considerably.
Origin
Middle English (in the sense 'backwards'): from a-2 (expressing motion) + archaic baft 'in the rear'.