vessel English · revision 6770

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=la vas}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈvɛsəl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English vessel, [[bor|xno|vessel|alt=vessel, vessele]], [[m|fro|vaissel|t=container, barrel; ship]],^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002) from [[la-lat|vascellum|t=small vase or urn; ship]], a diminutive of [[m|la|vasculum]], itself a diminutive of [[m|la|vas|t=vessel]] (see [[vase]]);^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) partly also from Old French [[m|fro|vaisselle|t=dishes]], from the Latin plural vascella.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Vessels or utensils for the table, collectively, and a container for liquid: before 1300 in the OED;^(OED 1989) a container, 1303, in Mannyng's ''Handlyng Synne''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense ''ship'' is found before 1325, in ''Cursor Mundi''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Weekley, quoted by Etymonline, notes that the association between hollow utensils and boats appears in all languages,^(Etymonline) and Word Origins traces the link to the idea of a container.^(Cresswell 2021) A person regarded as a receiver or bearer of a quality, as in the biblical ''weaker vessel'', is from the early 14th century.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The anatomical sense, a canal or duct of the body, especially for blood, is from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) In dialect a vessel was also a pail or a cask for fermenting liquor.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – utensils; a container.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1325 – a ship.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 14th century – a person as a bearer of a quality.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – a duct of the body.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[ship]] or large boat.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A hollow container, especially for liquid, such as a cup, bowl or [[jug]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A tube in the body or in a plant that carries fluid, such as a [[blood vessel]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person regarded as holding some quality: ''a vessel of wrath''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vase]]

+ * [[vascular]]

+ * [[vat]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}