Etymologically
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carriage

Etymology and origin of the English word carriage

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 1387
Borrowed from
Anglo-Norman cariage via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin (carrus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈkæɹɪd͡ʒ/ (UK); /ˈkæɹɪd͡ʒ/, /ˈkɛɹɪd͡ʒ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cariage, borrowed from Anglo-Norman cariage (Old North French cariage),[2][3][4] from carier (“to carry”) (see carry) and -age,[2][3] from Late Latin carricō, from Latin carrus (“two-wheeled wagon”) (see car).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wheeled vehicles collectively, and the act of carrying: before 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon, in Barnhart, the late 14th century in Etymonline.[2][3] Carriage-man, a carter, is from 1374.[2]

Semantic evolution

A single wheeled vehicle is from about 1400,[3][2] a feudal duty of transport from 1253 in Anglo-Latin,[2] and the business of transport from the 1520s.[3] Trench notes that carriage once meant what was carried, baggage, as in Acts 21:15 in the Authorized Version.[5] A way of carrying one's body, bearing, is from 1596 (the 1590s), hence also conduct or manners.[2][3] The moving part of a machine that carries another part is from the 1680s,[3] a horse-drawn passenger vehicle from 1706, and a railway car by 1830.[3] The spelling with two r's became fixed during the late 16th and 17th centuries.[2]

Timeline

  • 1253 – a feudal service of carriage (Anglo-Latin).[2]
  • before 1387 – cariage, vehicles.[2]
  • 1596 – bearing, deportment.[2]
  • 1706 – a horse-drawn carriage.[3]
  • 1830 – a railway carriage.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers.
  2. (British) A railway coach for passengers.
  3. The way a person holds and moves the body; posture, bearing.
  4. A moving part of a machine that carries another part, as of a typewriter.
  5. The carrying of goods, or its cost.

Word family

  • carriageway
  • miscarriage
  • undercarriage
  • baby carriage
  • carriage bolt
  • carriage dog
  • carriage return
  • carriage trade

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Carriage.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/carriage. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·