Breadth 3 : The measure of a ship from side to side in any particular place: it is usually distinguished into extreme-breadth, main-breadth, and top-timber-breadth
William Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine, Glossary, Published by South Seas using the Web Academic Resource Publisher, London 1780. (http://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=glos sary, (Mrtm - Brit) {583}