aft

Aft refers to the rear portion of a vessel, aircraft, or other vehicle, or to a direction toward the rear or stern. In nautical usage, aft is the opposite of forward (toward the bow). On ships, the term describes sections or positions closer to the stern, such as the aft deck, the aft cabin, or an aft compartment. The term can be used as an adjective (the aft section) or as an adverb (move aft). The synonym abaft is often used in nautical contexts to mean toward the stern from a given point.

In aviation and marine contexts, aft describes rearward parts of the craft, such as the aft fuselage or aft pressure bulkhead in aircraft, and the stern in ships. Ship plans sometimes label locations with fore, midships, and aft to indicate relative position. Aft is part of a broader set of directional terms used in navigation, including bow/forward, stern, port, and starboard; it interacts with terms such as midships and abaft.

Etymology: the word aft comes from Old English æfter, meaning after or behind, and is cognate with the modern phrase after. It has remained standard in nautical and aeronautical terminology since the medieval and early modern periods.

Beyond technical contexts, aft is less common in everyday language but can be found in maritime literature and formal descriptors. Example usage: “The crew gathered on the aft deck to watch the sunset.”