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voyage

Etymology and origin of the English word voyage

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1297
Borrowed from
Old French veiage via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin (via)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈvɔɪ.ɪd͡ʒ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English viage, borrowed from Old French veiage (“travel, journey”) (also voiage, vayage),[2][3][4] from Late Latin viāticum (“a journey”), in classical Latin provisions or money for a journey,[2][3][4] the noun use of the neuter of viāticus (“of a journey”), from via (“road, journey”) (see via).[2][3] The same Latin word gave Spanish viaje and Italian viaggio.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A journey by land or sea: viage probably before 1300 in Barnhart, about 1300 in Etymonline;[2][3] the OED's earliest quotations, from 1297, are for phrases like to make a voyage and for a military expedition.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English it meant a pilgrimage, an embassy, a military expedition, and figuratively a spiritual journey or human life.[3][5] After the Middle English period it came to mean especially or only a journey by water;[3][6] Trench notes that all journeys, by land or water, were once voyages.[6] The spelling voyage is first recorded in 1527, probably after the verb,[2] which is from the late 15th century and especially for travel over water by about 1600.[3] A journey through space is a modern use.[7]

Timeline

  • 1297 – a military expedition; to make a voyage.[5]
  • c. 1300 – viage, a journey.[3]
  • 1456 – a pilgrimage.[5]
  • late 15th century – to voyage (verb).[3]
  • 1527 – the spelling voyage.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A long journey, especially by sea to a distant place, or through outer space.
  2. An account of a journey of exploration, often in the plural.

Verb

  1. To make a voyage, or to travel across.

Word family

  • voyager
  • outvoyage
  • maiden voyage

Usage notes

In Lancashire and Cheshire dialect, as in older English, a voyage was a journey by land or sea.[8]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ 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)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Voyage.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/voyage. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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