ferry

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A boat that regularly carries people, vehicles, and goods across water.

   We took the ferry across the river to the island.

2. 2
   verb

   To carry people or things from one place to another, usually repeatedly.

   A bus ferries guests between the hotel and the airport.

3. 3
   noun

   A regular boat service across water, or the place where it operates.

   There used to be a ferry at this point on the river.

Simplified etymology

Ferry is recorded from Old English and belongs to the same Germanic word family as ford and fare, all associated with travel or passage.

The verb is from Middle English ferien (“to carry, convey”), from Old English ferian, from Proto-West Germanic *farjan, from Proto-Germanic *farjaną, which see for cognates. This verb is the causative of Proto-Germanic *faraną (“to go, travel”), whence English fare; ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *per-. The noun is from Middle English ferie (“place of crossing, ferry”), which was derived from the above verb under influence of Old Norse ferja, from Proto-Germanic *farjǭ, itself also from the verb. False cognate of Latin ferō.

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary