futtock

From Middle English futtek, votek, of uncertain origin; perhaps a compound of Old English fōt + hōc, or fut +‎ -uc (foot hook or foot -ock), Old Dutch vot or fuot + hoek; or from timber jargon word butt +‎ -ock (diminutive suffix). Alternatively from Middle Dutch voetkijn, diminutive of voet (“foot”), equivalent to foot +‎ -kin; or Old English *fōtuc, meaning foot +‎ -ock (diminutive suffix).

Perhaps came into Old English from Old Norse fótr, or fett / futt (big); + ek (timbr), or øks; giving Old Norse fót'ek, futtek or futtøks; equivalent Norwegian is fot haki, fett eik (tømmer), or fett øks; meaning foot hook, big oak (timber), or bold axe.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfʌtək/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈfʌtək/, [ˈfəɾək]

futtock (plural futtocks)

1. (nautical) Any of the curved rib-like timbers that form the frame of a wooden ship.
   • 1884, Dixon Kemp, A Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing (Fourth Edition), page 12:

     The timbers (called also frames, or floors, first, second and third futtocks, where the lengths of the frames are in two, three, or more pieces) will be "double," that is, two timbers will be placed close together, or nearly close together, and act as one frame.

• John Fincham (1825) An Outline of the Practice of Ship-Building, England: Portsea, →OCLC, page 196
• William Curtis Henry (1919) The elements of wood ship construction, New York: McGraw-Hill book company, pages 32–44
• Dixon Kemp (1882) A Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing, 4th edition, London: H. Cox, →OCLC, page 12