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Meaning of the term "stateroom"


SarasMommy

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Ok, I have searched here and other places on the internet, so I will ask the knowledgeable CC members. What is the origin of the term "stateroom"? More specifically, the "state" part. I'm sure there's a story behind it, and it probably has a simple explanation. Anyone?

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Ok, I have searched here and other places on the internet, so I will ask the knowledgeable CC members. What is the origin of the term "stateroom"? More specifically, the "state" part. I'm sure there's a story behind it, and it probably has a simple explanation. Anyone?

 

Great question, I have no idea, but I am SURE you will get many answers!

 

Judy

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Can't vouch for the accuracy, but a quick Google turned up a "Glossary of Nautical Terms" site with this:

Stateroom: An officer's or passenger's cabin aboard a merchant ship, or the cabin of an officer other than the captain aboard a naval ship, The term may be derived from the fact that in the 16th and 17th centuries, ships often had a cabin reserved for royal or noble passengers.

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More Googling... DID YOU KNOW?

Henry Miller Shreve, born in Columbus in 1785, invented the backhoe dredger and cleared a new section of the Mississippi River for navigation. Shreveport, La., is named in his honor. Also, he named each room on his boat after a state, hence the origin of the word "stateroom."

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Stateroom:

1. (n.) A magnificent room in a place or great house. (typically reserved for visiting royalty)

2. (n.) A small apartment for lodging or sleeping in the cabin, or on the deck, of a vessel; also, a somewhat similar apartment in a railway sleeping car.

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Stateroom:

1. (n.) A magnificent room in a place or great house. (typically reserved for visiting royalty)

2. (n.) A small apartment for lodging or sleeping in the cabin, or on the deck, of a vessel; also, a somewhat similar apartment in a railway sleeping car.

But those are definitions, not origins of the term.

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More Googling... DID YOU KNOW?

Henry Miller Shreve, born in Columbus in 1785, invented the backhoe dredger and cleared a new section of the Mississippi River for navigation. Shreveport, La., is named in his honor. Also, he named each room on his boat after a state, hence the origin of the word "stateroom."

 

Thank you so much! I knew I could count on CC.;)

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I consulted the OED (Oxford English Dictionary), and the first recorded use of "stateroom" was in Pepys' diary in 1660. I gather that there were originally only one or sometimes two cabins that were called staterooms, those being for the superior officer and the like. Thus, the "state" part comes in meaning of stature, status.

 

2. A captain's or superior officer's room on board ship. (Cf. state-cabin, STATE n. 41.)

1660 PEPYS Diary 24 Apr., Very pleasant we were on board the London which hath a state-room much bigger than the Nazeby, but not so rich. 1694 Lond. Gaz. No. 2982/3 The Yacht having lost in this Rencounter but 3 men, who were killed by one great Shot in the State-Room. 1748 SMOLLETT Rod. Rand. xxxv, A cabbin was made for him contiguous to the state-room, where Whiffle slept. 1834 M. SCOTT Cruise Midge xvii, The cabin had two state-rooms, as they are called in merchantmen, opening off it. 1836 MARRYAT Midsh. Easy xiv, In the captain's state-room they had found fourteen thousand dollars in bags.

 

I love the OED!

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More Googling... DID YOU KNOW?

Henry Miller Shreve, born in Columbus in 1785, invented the backhoe dredger and cleared a new section of the Mississippi River for navigation. Shreveport, La., is named in his honor. Also, he named each room on his boat after a state, hence the origin of the word "stateroom."

 

So this one can't be true, since Pepys (and others) used the word long before this Shreve guy.

 

Like I say, just because it's in a newspaper or on the internet doesn't mean it's true!

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Captain Card, where are you? ;)

 

 

I'm here!!!!!:D

 

STATEROOM.... isn't that what they call cabins on the STATEndam? ;)

 

 

I've never heard of an officer's cabin on any merchant ships called a 'stateroom'. On ships, rooms that are used for sleeping are called cabins! And collectively they are known as the 'accommodation'.

 

While we are at it.... I thought a 'suite' would mean a 'suite of rooms', ie dayroom and bedroom. Yet on HAL one large room is called a 'suite'!:rolleyes:

 

For senior officers, who might have a dayroom as well as bedroom the term would be 'quarters'..... as in 'Master's Quarters'... never Master's Suite.

 

On most merchant ships all spaces are 'named' with a small plate, either brass or plastic that states what the designated use of the space is. Well, British ships are always marked in the way. Something to do with tonnage regulations and exemptions. For instance a tag might read... 'CHARTROOM - Certified for Use in Navigating Ship'. Inside the funnel entrance door there was always a sign that read: 'FUNNEL SPACE -Certified for use in Navigating Ship'. Everything was marked. One one ship I was on the sign over the purser/chief steward's door read: Chief Steward's Suite- Certified for one person'. It consisted of his dayroom, bedroom with bathroom and also included his office. I got the old faithful dymotape machine out and made a new sign for over his door... "Chief Steward's BAR".... several weeks went by before he noticed it! :p

 

Also... on most ships I sailed in the dining room was known as the Saloon and the officer's bar is known as the Smokeroom. Only on Cunard do the use the naval term 'Wardroom'.

 

OK, OK I know none of this is any help at all!

 

Stephen

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While we are at it.... I thought a 'suite' would mean a 'suite of rooms', ie dayroom and bedroom. Yet on HAL one large room is called a 'suite'!:rolleyes:
All the cruise lines are guilty of this. I think they're using the word suite in the sense of "a matching set of furniture", as in a "dining room suite".
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Thanks for the info, Stephen. Lots of interesting history behind nomenclature.

 

Referring to passenger cabins as suites (when they are not) is nothing more than marketing. Creates an impression of a special accommodation that consists of more than one room. Trouble is, the uninformed are disappointed to arrive and find nothing more than a typical oblong sleeping space. Oh, well.

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You mention the Chief Steward's BAR.

 

When I see BAR, I think of that fine Browning Automatic Rifle, used by the US Military in several wars. It was of course retired in favor of the SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon).

 

We all have different reference points.

 

I did read one reference once that attributed "stateroom" to the accommodations on the US paddle-wheelers, which had named cabins after the various states.

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Part of the answer for using Stateroom probably comes from the fact that we travel agents (which i am one) have been urged during our many training classes to call it a Stateroom instead of Cabin. (you will find the definition of a cabin completely different also-for sure)

We are also supposed to call Balconies - Verandahs now!

I am getting used to it but eventually will get the hang of it:)

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You mention the Chief Steward's BAR.

 

When I see BAR, I think of that fine Browning Automatic Rifle, used by the US Military in several wars. It was of course retired in favor of the SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon).

 

 

 

 

We all have different reference points.

 

quote]

 

 

 

 

" We all have different reference point."

 

Ain't that the truth. Which makes me think F.U.B.A.R. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek:

 

 

Stephen

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The word stateroom is from when the paddlewheelers were plying the Mississippi. They had people from several states on board. So, they named them by the name of the state they were from After a while they dropped the state name and mearly called each room the Stateroom. Where it stays to this date.. I heard this from a special on TV about Mark Twain. I don't know if this is true, but it makes for a good story

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The word stateroom is from when the paddlewheelers were plying the Mississippi. They had people from several states on board. So, they named them by the name of the state they were from After a while they dropped the state name and mearly called each room the Stateroom. Where it stays to this date.. I heard this from a special on TV about Mark Twain. I don't know if this is true, but it makes for a good story

 

Obviously you have not read this whole thread.

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Etymologically speaking, most compound nouns tend to be formed from the accusative root, not the nominative root, and hence the meaning of the generated word is often best ascertained from what it was supposed to actually do. This is the case with the word "stateroom."

 

When one looks at how the word "state" was used in the 16th and 17th centuries -- and at the formation of other then-contemporary words -- it seems most likely that the term "state" is used in its verb form: "to state" as in "to say" or "to write" or "to record." As a verb it contains a formal or official quality ... for instance, a "statement" is to declare something "for the record." Hence, the origination of the term "stateroom" follows: a person's "official placement" or "location of record" or "assigned room" aboard ship. It is the cabin to which one is "stated" -- i.e., "assigned" -- and it is how one is identified on the vessel's manifest. "Dr. Neal of stateroom 1917." I may be sitting in the crowsnest, but my room of official "residence" aboard ship in 1917, and it is to that cabin that my barbill is charged. :)

 

I'll take a B&B please ... thanks.

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