Editing Narrowboat (section)

==Terminology==
The narrowboat (one word) definition in the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' is:<ref>{{citation|year=2003|chapter=narrowboat |title=[[Oxford English Dictionary]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|chapter-url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/255857}}</ref>
{{Quote|A British canal boat of traditional long, narrow design, steered with a tiller; spec. one not exceeding 7 feet (approx. 2.1 metres) in width or 72 feet (approx. 21.9 metres) in length}}

Earlier quotations listed use the term ''narrow boat'', with the most recent, a quotation from an advertisement in ''Canal Boat & Inland Waterways'' in 1998, using ''narrowboat''.

The single word ''narrowboat'' has been adopted by authorities such as the Canal and River Trust, Scottish Canals and the authoritative  magazine ''Waterways World'' to refer to all boats built in the style and tradition of commercial boats that were able to fit in the narrow canal locks.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

Although some narrowboats are built to a design based on river barges and many conform to the strict definition of the term, it is incorrect to refer to a narrowboat as a ''[[widebeam]]'' or as a ''[[barge]]'', both of which are definable by their greater width. In the context of British inland waterways, a barge is usually a much wider, cargo-carrying boat or a modern boat modelled on one, certainly more than {{convert|7|ft|m|2}} wide.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

Another historic term for a narrow boat is ''long boat'', which has been noted in the Midlands and especially on the River Severn and connecting waterways to Birmingham.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

Usage has not quite settled as regards (a) boats based on narrowboat design, but too wide for narrow canals; or (b) boats the same width as narrowboats but based on other types of boat.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

Narrowboats may have [[ship prefix]] ''NB''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2019}}