Glossary
Marine Mechanic Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential marine mechanic terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key marine mechanic vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in marine mechanic training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- ABYC
- Boat standards group.
- Anode
- Metal that protects against corrosion.
- Bilge
- Lowest part of the hull.
- Commission
- Prepare for launch.
- Fuel water separator
- Removes water from fuel.
- Impeller
- Water pump rotor.
- Inboard
- Engine inside the hull.
- Lower unit
- Gearcase of an outboard.
- Outboard
- Engine mounted outside the hull.
- Prop
- Propeller.
- Rigging
- Installing controls and gauges.
- Sea trial
- Test run on water.
- Sterndrive
- Inboard engine with outdrive.
- Trim
- Engine angle adjustment.
- Winterize
- Prepare for cold storage.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Marine Mechanic practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Marine Mechanic training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.