Etymologically
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conveyor

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Pronunciation

  • /kənˈveɪɚ/[1]
  • UK: /kənˈveɪə/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English convey + -or, with the variant conveyer in -er.[2][3][4] Etymonline calls the word an agent noun in Latin form and dates it to the 1640s, the spelling in -er being earlier (1510s).[5] The verb is from Anglo-Norman conveier, convoiier (“to accompany, escort”), from Vulgar Latin *conviō (“to accompany on the way”), formed from com- (“with”) and via (“way, road”).[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

One that conveys, carries or transmits: 1513–14, in the preamble of an Act of Henry VIII.[2] Dictionary.com dates the word 1505–15,[4] and Barnhart dates conveyor to 1647.[3]

Semantic evolution

The early senses follow those of the verb convey: a person who carries or transmits something (1513),[2] a person who transfers property (1647)[2][3] and a thing that conveys (1621, in Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy).[2] Because convey was a euphemism for "steal" from the 15th to the 17th century,[5] Shakespeare could use conveyors in Richard II (1608) for nimble-fingered thieves, a sense the OED marks obsolete.[2] The mechanical sense, a device for moving grain, flour, timber or other material, is recorded from 1813[2][5] and gave the conveyor belt (1868).[5] Today the word is chiefly short for conveyor belt,[6] and dictionaries list both spellings, conveyor and conveyer.[6][7]

Timeline

  • 1513 – one who conveys, carries or transmits.[2]
  • 1608 – a nimble thief, in Shakespeare's Richard II (obsolete).[2]
  • 1621 – a thing that conveys or transmits.[2]
  • 1647 – one who transfers property.[2][3]
  • 1813 – a mechanical device for carrying grain, flour, timber and the like.[2][5]
  • 1868 – conveyor belt.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person or thing that conveys, carries or transmits something: The courier was the conveyor of the bad news.[6][7][2]
  2. A mechanism for moving materials or goods continuously from one place to another, especially a conveyor belt.[6][7][2]
  3. (law) A person who transfers property to another.[2]

Word family

  • conveyorise
  • conveyorize
  • conveyor belt

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ a b c The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers