Boat-end character 艫

Japanese: the stern; Chinese references give both ends.

The Japanese reading とも (roughly “toh-moh”) means the rear of a boat. Chinese dictionaries also gloss 艫 as 船头 (bow/front) and 船尾 (stern/rear), so whether 艫 means bow or stern depends on the language and phrase around it.

舳艫 is a useful pairing: Japanese explanations set 舳 (bow) against 艫 (stern); in classical Chinese, the compound can name both ends or a line of boats.

How did 艫 come to name different ends?

The Shuowen Jiezi, a Chinese dictionary compiled in 121 CE, explains 艫 through 舳艫 and also glosses it as “the front of a boat.”

A poem in the Man’yōshū, a Japanese poetry collection, contrasts とも (roughly “toh-moh,” the rear) with へ (roughly “heh,” the front). The late-15th-century Japanese dictionary Wagyokuhen also records 艫 for a boat’s stern.