- board (1)
- O.E. bord "a plank, flat surface," from P.Gmc. *bortham (cf. Goth. fotu-baurd "foot-stool," Ger. Brett "plank"), from PIE *bhrdho- "board," from base *bher- "to cut." See also board (2), with which this is so confused as practically to form one word. A board is thinner than a plank, and generally less than 2.5 inches thick. The transf. meaning "food" (1386) is an extension of the late O.E. sense of "table;" hence, also, above board "honest, open" (1620). A further extension is to "table where council is held" (1575), then transf. to "leadership council, council (that meets at a table)," 1613. Boarding-school is from 1677.
- board (2)
- "side of ship," O.E. bord "border, rim, ship's side," from P.Gmc. *bordaz, perhaps from PIE *bhrtos "raised, made projecting." Connected to border (q.v.). See also starboard. Etymologically not related to board (1), but the two forms represented in Eng. by these words were more or less confused at an early date in most Gmc. languages, a situation made worse in Eng. because this Gmc. root was also adopted as M.L. bordus, I. and Sp. bordo, and Fr. bord, in which form it came over with the Normans. By now the senses are inextricably tangled.