ferry
pronunciation
How to pronounce ferry in British English:
UK [ˈferi]
How to pronounce ferry in American English:
US [ˈferi]
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- Noun:
- a boat that transports people or vehicles across a body of water and operates on a regular schedule
- transport by boat or aircraft
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- Verb:
- transport from one place to another
- transport by ferry
- travel by ferry
Word Origin
- ferry
- ferry: [12] A ferry is etymologically a boat on which you ‘travel’ from one place to another. The word comes ultimately from the Indo- European base *por- ‘going, passage’, which has produced a wide range of other English words, including emporium, ford, and port. Its Germanic descendant was *fer- ‘go’, source of English fare as well as ferry. Ferry itself was probably borrowed from the Old Norse element ferju-, denoting ‘passage across water’, and that was what it at first meant in English.The word’s main modern use, which is essentially an abbreviation of ferry-boat, is not recorded before the 16th century, and does not seem to have really become established until the 20th century.=> emporium, fare, ford, port
- ferry (v.)
- Old English ferian "to carry, convey, bring, transport" (in late Old English, especially over water), from Proto-Germanic *farjan "to ferry" (cognates: Old Frisian feria "carry, transport," Old Norse ferja "to pass over, to ferry," Gothic farjan "travel by boat"), from PIE root *per- (2) "to lead, pass over" (see port (n.1)). Related to fare (v.). Related: Ferried; ferries; ferrying.
- ferry (n.)
- early 15c., "a passage over a river," from the verb or from Old Norse ferju-, in compounds, "passage across water," ultimately from the same Germanic root as ferry (v.). Meaning "place where boats pass over a body of water" is from mid-15c. The sense "boat or raft to convey passengers and goods short distances across a body of water" (1580s) is a shortening of ferry boat (mid-15c.).
Example
- 1. I took the ferry to staten island and campaigned there .
- 2. After the crash , the ferry continued to its destination .
- 3. When she was twelve , her father took her to honolulu on the car ferry .
- 4. I left my bag of film on the ferry .
- 5. By 6:45 , I was already tired as I drove him to the staten island ferry .