freight

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: frāt, IPA(key): /fɹeɪt/ Rhymes: -eɪt === Etymology 1 === From Late Middle English freight, freght, freyght [and other forms], a variant of fraught, fraght (“transport of goods or people, usually by water; transportation fee; transportation facilities; cargo or passengers of a ship; (figuratively) burden; ballast of a ship; goods; a charge”), from Middle Dutch vracht, vrecht, and Middle Low German vrecht (“cargo, freight; transportation fee”), from Old Saxon frāht, frēht, from Proto-West Germanic *fra- (from Proto-Germanic *fra- (prefix meaning ‘completely, fully’)) + *aihti (from Proto-Germanic *aihtiz (“possessions, property”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- (“to come into possession of, obtain; to own, possess”)). The English word can be analysed as for- +‎ aught, and is a doublet of fraught. ==== Noun ==== freight (usually uncountable, plural freights) (uncountable) The transportation of goods (originally by water; now also (chiefly US) by land); also, the hiring of a vehicle or vessel for such transportation. (uncountable) Goods or items in transport; cargo, luggage. (countable) Payment for transportation. (figuratively) (countable) A burden, a load. (specifically, uncountable) Cultural or emotional associations. (countable, originally US, rail transport) Ellipsis of freight train. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== fraught (noun) ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === The verb is derived from Late Middle English freighten, freghten, a variant of fraughten, fraghten (“to load (a ship with cargo or passengers); to hire (a ship) for transporting goods; to provide fully (with goods, money, etc.); to stow away”), and then either: from fraught, fraght (noun) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive form of verbs); or from Middle Dutch vrachten, vrechten (“to load (a ship with cargo or passengers); to hire (a ship) for transporting goods, to fraught”), from vracht, vrecht (noun) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive form of verbs). The adjective is: derived from Middle English freght, freight, freyght, the past participle of fraughten (verb) (see above); and/or a contraction of freighted, the past participle of the verb. ==== Verb ==== freight (third-person singular simple present freights, present participle freighting, simple past and past participle freighted) (transitive) To load (a vehicle or vessel) with freight (cargo); also, to hire or rent out (a vehicle or vessel) to carry cargo or passengers. To transport (goods). (by extension) To load or store (goods, etc.). (figuratively) To carry (something) as if it is a burden or load. (intransitive, US, also figuratively) Chiefly followed by up: to carry as part of a cargo. ===== Conjugation ===== ===== Derived terms ===== afreight freightage freighted (adjective) freighter freighting (noun) ===== Related terms ===== fraught (verb) ===== Translations ===== ==== Adjective ==== freight (comparative more freight, superlative most freight) (obsolete) Freighted; laden. === References === === Further reading === cargo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia freight transport on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Freight in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911) === Anagrams === fighter, refight