US /ˈvɛs.əl/
noun verb Freq #4570

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    A ship or large boat.

    A fishing vessel was spotted off the coast.

  2. 2
    noun

    A container used for holding liquids.

    They poured the wine into a silver vessel.

  3. 3
    noun

    A tube that carries fluid such as blood in the body or sap in a plant.

    Tiny blood vessels carry oxygen to the muscles.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a ship or large boat. watercraft
Word family
Forms vessels
Derived forms vesselfulvesselness
Related forms drinkwarewatercraft

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wāss Late Latin vās Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Italic *-elom Late Latin -ulum Late Latin -culum Late Latin vāsculum Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Late Latin -lus Late Latin vāscellum Old French vaisselbor. Middle English vessel English vessel Inherited from Middle English vessel, vessell (“small container”); from Old French vaissel (compare modern French vaisseau and Catalan vaixell), from Late Latin vāscellum, diminutive of vāsculum, diminutive of vās (“vase, vessel”).

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