Meanings
plural forecastles · alternative focastle · alternative fo'castle · alternative fo'c'stle · alternative fo'c's'le
- nauticalA raised part of the upper deck at the front of a ship; the structure of this part of the ship; the crew's quarters located within it.
Holonyms: watercraft, vessel, vessel
1 more example
My knife was at my hip. I returned to my hut for the shotgun, made sure it was loaded, and went down to the Ghost. With some difficulty, and at the expense of a wetting to the waist, I climbed aboard. The forecastle scuttle was open. I paused to listen for the breathing of the men, but there was no breathing.
1904, Jack London, chapter 32, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLCAntonyms: aftcastle, aftercastle
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA raised part of the upper deck at the front of a ship; the structure of this part of the ship; the crew's quarters located within it.
More synonyms by meaning
nounliving quarters consisting of a superstructure in the bow of a merchant ship where the crew is housed
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishforecastel
- Englishforecastle
From Middle English forecastel, forcastel, (whence also Anglo-French forechasteil), equivalent to fore- + castle. Compare Dutch voorkasteel.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian бак
- бак (bak)nautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
Catalan castell de proa
- castell de proanautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
Chinese Mandarin 前甲板
- 前甲板 (qiánjiǎbǎn)nautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
Danish bak, folkelukaf
- baknautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- folkelukafnautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
Dutch voorkasteel
- voorkasteelnautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
Finnish etukastelli, pakka
- etukastellinautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- pakkanautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- skanssicrew's quarters
French gaillard d'avant
- gaillard d'avantnautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
German Vorschiff, Bugkastell
- Vorschiffnautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- Bugkastellnautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
Hebrew בֵּית קַדְמָה, צוּר חַרְטוֹם
- בֵּית קַדְמָה (bet kadmá)nautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- צוּר חַרְטוֹם (tsur khartóm)nautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- מְגוּרֵי חַרְטוֹם (megurey khartom)crew's quarters
- צוּר הַחַרְטוֹם (tsur hakhartom)crew's quarters
- בֵּית הַקָדְמָה (beit hakadmah)crew's quarters
Irish deic thosaigh, caiseal tosaigh
- deic thosaighnautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- caiseal tosaighcrew's quarters
Japanese 船首楼
- 船首楼 (senshurō)nautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
Norwegian ruff
- ruffnautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
Norwegian Bokmål bakk, bakkdekk
- bakknautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- bakkdekknautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
Polish bak, bakdek
- baknautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- bakdeknautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- forkasztelcrew's quarters
- dziobówkacrew's quarters
Portuguese castelo de proa
- castelo de proanautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
Russian бак, полуба́к
- бак (bak)nautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- полуба́к (polubák)nautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- носово́й ку́брик (nosovój kúbrik)nautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
Spanish castillo de proa
- castillo de proanautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
Swedish backdäck, back
- backdäcknautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- backnautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
- skanscrew's quarters
Welsh fforcas
- fforcasnautical: raised part of the upper deck at bow
Cite this entry
forecastle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forecastle
“forecastle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forecastle. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “forecastle,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forecastle.
Source: forecastle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.