Formerly "larboard" was used instead of "port". This is from Middle English "ladebord" and the term "lade" is related to the modern "load". "Larboard" sounded very similar to "starboard" and in 1844 the Royal Navy ordered that "port" be used instead. "Larboard" continued to be used well into the 1850s by whalers. In Old English the word was "bæcbord", which is used in other European languages, for example as the German "backbord" and the French term "bâbord" (derived in turn from Middle Dutch).