Nautical term meaning toward or on the aft (rear) side of a ship; away from the front toward the back.
From 'a-' (on, at) plus 'baff' or 'baft' (the rear or after part of a ship). The word has Old English and Norse origins related to 'aft.' It appears in naval terminology from the medieval period onward.
Sailors needed precise language because on a ship, saying 'go to the back' could kill someone if they went the wrong direction in a storm—'abaff' and other nautical directional terms were life-and-death vocabulary that had to be crystal clear.
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