wagon

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A large four-wheeled vehicle, usually pulled by horses, used to carry heavy goods.

   The farmer loaded hay onto the wagon.

2. 2
   noun

   An open railway vehicle for carrying goods.

   The freight train pulled dozens of coal wagons.

3. 3
   noun

   A child's small open cart with a long handle for pulling.

   The boy pulled his little red wagon down the path.

Borrowed from Middle Dutch wagen, from Old Dutch *wagan, from Proto-West Germanic *wagn, from Proto-Germanic *wagnaz (“wagon”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to transport”). Generally displaced native cognate wain, from Old English wæġn, of which it is a doublet. Related also to way, weigh. Sense 8 (“woman of loose morals; obnoxious woman”) is probably a derogatory and jocular reference to a woman being “ridden”, that is, mounted for the purpose of sexual intercourse. The verb is derived from the noun.

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