The Oxford English Dictionary identifies one signification of the word form list as 'the careening or inclination of a ship to one side.'1 The earliest attestations, in which the spelling is lust, are from the first half of the seventeenth century, 'The Ship at low water had a great lust to the offing.'2 Under 'Etymology', the dictionary states, 'Of obscure origin: perhaps a use of list n.4'. This cross reference leads to the etymological comment 'Compare Icelandic lyst (feminine), appetite (for food).' While we can easily imagine a nautical remark such as 'She wants to tip', the attribution of desire or intention seems an unlikely source for a narrowly technical term.
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