vessel

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈvɛsəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English vessel, borrowed from Anglo-Norman vessel, vessele, vaissel (“container, barrel; ship”),^[2][3][4][5] from Late Latin vascellum (“small vase or urn; ship”), a diminutive of vasculum, itself a diminutive of vas (“vessel”) (see vase);^[6][3][2] partly also from Old French vaisselle (“dishes”), from the Latin plural vascella.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vessels or utensils for the table, collectively, and a container for liquid: before 1300 in the OED;^[7] a container, 1303, in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The sense ship is found before 1325, in Cursor Mundi.^[6][3] Weekley, quoted by Etymonline, notes that the association between hollow utensils and boats appears in all languages,^[3] and Word Origins traces the link to the idea of a container.^[8] A person regarded as a receiver or bearer of a quality, as in the biblical weaker vessel, is from the early 14th century.^[3][2] The anatomical sense, a canal or duct of the body, especially for blood, is from the late 14th century.^[3] In dialect a vessel was also a pail or a cask for fermenting liquor.^[9]

Timeline

• before 1300 – utensils; a container.^[7]
• before 1325 – a ship.^[6]
• early 14th century – a person as a bearer of a quality.^[3]
• late 14th century – a duct of the body.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A ship or large boat.
2. A hollow container, especially for liquid, such as a cup, bowl or jug.
3. A tube in the body or in a plant that carries fluid, such as a blood vessel.
4. A person regarded as holding some quality: a vessel of wrath.

Related words

• vase
• vascular
• vat

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)