WEIGH OR WAY. 



W. Clark Russell, the sea-novelist, contended that loider 

 7vcigh is always the proper form of this nautical phrase, totally 

 ignoring the other and equalh^ proper form nndei- ivay . They 

 are really two distinct phrases confused in use partly because 

 their pronunciation is the same and partly because they are 

 often applicable at the same time. 



Lhider weigh refers to the position of the anchor. A vessel 

 is said to be getting iinder iveigli when her crew are weighing 

 the anchor ; the anchor is aweigh when it is broken from the 

 bottom and hangs b}^ the cable ; and a vessel is under iveigh 

 when the cable has been weighed — she is under, in the con- 

 dition of having, a weighed anchor. But as she is then gen- 

 erally in motion the phrase is sometimes transferred to the 

 result, and a vessel under 7veigh means a vessel in motion in 

 contrast to one at anchor. 



Under ivay means in motion, having way, and in its nau- 

 tical use intimates that the vessel is under control of the helm. 

 So a vessel is said to gather 7e'av or to lose icav, to increase or 

 decrease the rate of motion, to have headway or stermcay or to 

 make lee-way, and the oarsman gives -way to his boat with oars. 

 A. similar use of under appears in under one hell , under a full 

 head of steam, under sail, designating the source of w;^y. 

 Compare German unter Weges. 



Hence the two phrases need not be discriminated in all 

 cases, but a vessel " hove to " is under 7ceigh and not under 

 zvay — her anchor has been weighed but she has no appreciable 

 way. Steam vessels, manauvring about wharves and other 

 vessels in a harbor, where sailing vessels must anchor or be 

 towed or warped, may not use an anchor for weeks at a time 

 and yet may get under 7i'ay several times a day. A steamship 

 disabled at sea is not under zvay, though, strictly speaking, 

 she is still under zveigh. In these cases zvav is the proper spell- 

 ing because it is the motion of the vessel and not the position 

 of the anchor that is under consideration. 



