ferry
/ˈfɛɹi/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.02 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To carry or transport over a contracted body of water, as a river or strait, in a boat or other floating conveyance plying between opposite shores.
Transitive verb
noun
A boat or ship used to transport people, smaller vehicles and goods from one port to another, usually on a regular schedule.
noun
A place where passengers are transported across water in such a ship.
noun
The service constituted by this watercraft's operation; the business (company) that operates such a service.
noun
The legal right or franchise that entitles a corporate body or an individual to operate such a service: a right of ferry.
Example Sentences
- "Trucks plowed through the water to ferry flood victims to safety."
- "We ferried our stock in U-Haul trailers, and across the months, as we purchased more cowflesh from the Goat Man — meat vanishing into the ether again and again, as if into some quarkish void — we became familiar enough with Sloat and his daughter to learn that her name was Flozelle, and to visit with them about matters other than stock."
- "Being a good waiter takes more than the ability to ferry plates of food around a restaurant."
- "A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays. […] This would also let high-speed trains skirt cities as moving platforms ferry passengers to and from the city centre."
- "They ferry over this Lethean sound / Both to and fro."
- "Near-synonym: ferryboat"
Etymology
The verb is from Middle English ferien (“to carry, convey”), from Old English ferian, from Proto-West Germanic *farjan, from Proto-Germanic *farjaną, which see for cognates. This verb is the causative of Proto-Germanic *faraną (“to go, travel”), whence English fare; ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *per-. The noun is from Middle English ferie (“place of crossing, ferry”), which was derived from the above verb under influence of Old Norse ferja, from Proto-Germanic *farjǭ, itself also from the verb. False cognate of Latin ferō.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *per-, ferien, ferian, *farjan, *farjaną, -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfɛɹi/
- British English: /ˈfɛɹi/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in People.