freightn.
/freɪt/, U.S. /freɪt/ 1. † b. to take freight: to take passage for oneself and goods. Obsolete.
a. Hire of a vessel for the transport of goods; the service of transporting goods (originally, by water; now extended, esp. in U.S., to land-transit); the sum of money paid for this. In early use also: Passage-money.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > transport of goods in a vehicle > [noun]
loadc1000
freight1463
carriage?1523
running1825
haulage1826
long haul1839
freighting1856
freightage1872
transport-riding1900
society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > [noun] > transportation of goods
fraughtc1440
freight1463
freighting1672
water transport1780
shipment1802
boatage1861
carrying1869
society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > [noun] > hire of vessel for freight
fraughtc1440
fraughtage1442
freight1463
affreightment1664
freightage1694
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > hire or rent > [noun] > for ship or boat
boat hire1423
fraughtc1440
freight1463
tonnage1512
1463 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 194 My mastyr toke hym ffor his ffreyte to Caleys..vj. li.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 283/2 Whome they receyued in to theyr Shippe gladly and sayd they wold brynge hym thyder without ony freyght or huyr.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 114 Specyally yf to that were joynyd a nother nordynance..wych ys concernyng the frate of marchandyse.
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Naulage, the fraight or fare payed for passage ouer the water.
a1687 W. Petty Polit. Arithm. (1690) 19 Those who have the command of the Sea Trade may Work at easier Freight with more profit.
1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 353 Having agreed to pay no Freight there.
1764 R. Burn Hist. Poor Laws 180 Let a small deduction be made from the freights of ships, and from seamens wages.
1765 T. Hutchinson Hist. Colony Massachusets-Bay, 1628–91 (ed. 2) ii. 257 They purchased a ship-load of masts, the freight whereof cost them sixteen hundred pounds.
1855 N. Hawthorne Jrnl. 16 Sept. in Eng. Notebks. (1997) I. iii. 343 The captains talk together about..how freights are in America.
1861 G. J. Goschen Theory Foreign Exchanges 18 The charge for freight acts with the same force as a charge for a commodity actually produced and exported.
1868 J. E. T. Rogers Man. Polit. Econ. (1876) ix. 83 The passage from the East to Europe has been so shortened, that a freight from thence to England is reduced to one-fourth.
ΚΠ
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 372 We all took Freight with him.
2.
a. The cargo or lading (of a ship); a shipload. Hence, anything carried by sea or land; ‘goods’ in transit or being transported by rail, road, or sea. Chiefly North American with reference to the carriage of goods by railway. fast freight (U.S.): see fast adj. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > [noun] > of loads > a load
ladec897
seamc950
lastOE
burdena1000
charge?c1225
load?c1225
burnc1375
draughta1400
summerc1400
portage1445
pauchlea1450
fraughtc1450
freightc1503
loadinga1513
carriage1597
ballast1620
cargo1657
porterage1666
freightage1823
smalls1846
journey1859
send-off1909
payload1914
society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > [noun] > cargo
fraughta1400
freightc1503
lading1526
furing1535
cargason1583
fraughting1598
fraughtagea1616
stowagea1640
cargo1657
package1669
fare1707
freightage1803
deck-cargo1861
shipment1861
c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. lxxxvijv/2 We..charge you precisely that the for sayd [merchants]..wyth their shypes freight..ye suffer and let go passe.
1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII c. 14 Beyng mynded..to take any freight or ladynge..into any of the saide shyppes.
1694 Acct. Several Late Voy. (1711) ii. 3 When they have their full Fraight of Whales, they put up their great Flag.
1789 J. Brand Hist. & Antiq. Newcastle II. 255 [A vessel] trading to Newcastle upon Tyne with corn, and returning with a freight of sea coals.
1832 H. Martineau Ireland 131 Do you know that Vessel? You cannot be aware what freight it bears?
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xix. 196 They offered to exclude both clothes and food in favor of a full freight of these treasures.
b. transferred. A load, burden,
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance by carrying > [noun] > by a person > a load
back-burden?c1225
load?c1225
carriagea1398
birth1497
freight1618
porterage1666
headload1795
backload1823
1618 G. Chapman tr. Hesiod Georgicks i. 574 At thy purse's height, And when it fights low, give thy use his freight.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 89 With the ruddy freight the bending Branches groan. View more context for this quotation
a1807 W. Wordsworth Prelude (1959) v. 140 Questioning himself what this strange freight Which the Newcomer carried..Could mean.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 73 These warm moist winds..deposit their freight of moisture in showers of rain.
c. figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > [noun]
sorrowOE
ail?c1225
scorpion?c1225
dolec1290
angera1325
anguishc1330
cupa1340
aggrievancea1400
discomfortc1405
afflictionc1429
sytec1440
pressurea1500
constraint1509
tenterhook1532
grief1535
annoying1566
troubler1567
griper1573
vexation1588
infliction1590
trouble1591
temptationc1595
load1600
torment1600
wringer1602
sorance1609
inflicting1611
brusha1616
freighta1631
woe-heart1637
ordeala1658
cut-up1782
unpleasure1792
iron maiden1870
mental cruelty1899
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1954) VII. 440 Keep up that holy cheerefulnesse, which Christ makes the Ballast of a Christian, and his Fraight too.
1755 E. Young Centaur v, in Wks. (1757) IV. 223 Every moment shall return, and lay its whole freight..before the Throne.
1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms i. 127 An earthly freight she bears Of joys and sorrows.
1872 J. G. Holland Marble Prophecy 97 A man who lifted On ready words his freight of gratitude.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > [noun] > a voyage > of a laden vessel
freight1716
1716 B. Church Entertaining Passages Philip's War i. 46 He made use of Canoo's: But by that time they had made two fraights..the Wind sprung up.
4. Originally U.S. Short for freight train n.: a goods-train. by freight: by the usual means of transportation, as opposed to by express.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > train > goods train
goods train1832
freight train1845
good1855
freight1861
1861 Remin. Life Railroad Engineer 123 He was running the Night Express,..while I was running the through freight.
1881 Chicago Times 18 June A freight of thirty loaded cars..collided with the other train.
1899 B. Tarkington Gentleman from Indiana x. 166 It began to be generally believed that they had escaped by the one-o' clock freight.
1922 M. B. Houston Witch Man i. 14 There were four trains a day in Innessburg, not counting the freights.
1955 E. Hillary High Adventure ix. 158 Feeling a little like an express train overhauling a slow freight.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
freight agent n.
ΚΠ
1843 Rep. Western R.R. 17 Freight-agent.
1875 N. Amer. Rev. 120 403 He has been promoted to the office of freight-agent.
1944 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 900 If there is a freight agent at your station, you pay freight charges when shipment is received.
freight car n. (= goods truck or van)
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > railway wagon or carriage > for goods
freight wagon1832
freight car1833
goods wagon1840
dog box1905
goods set1927
1833 Amer. Railroad Jrnl. 2 325/2 10 freight cars.
1856 F. L. Olmsted Journey Slave States 55 There were, in the train, two first-class passenger cars, and two freight cars.
1905 Springfield Weekly Republ. 7 July 12 The boy attempted to climb on to one of the freight cars.
1947 Chicago Daily News 17 Jan. 4/2 A freight car and caboose were destroyed by fire.
1967 Jane's World Railways 1967–68 p. iii Computers..are being extended into every possible field of operation.., from sending messages to locating freight cars.
freight carriage n.
ΚΠ
1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 25 Sept. 5/2 They will put up their rates on the freight carriage eastward.
freight conductor n.
ΚΠ
1872 E. B. Tuttle Boy's Bk. Indians (1882) 75 Two freight conductors brought in their trains.
freight container n.
ΚΠ
1969 Jane's Freight Containers 1968–9 12/1 A freight container is an article of transport equipment.
freight depot n.
ΚΠ
1841 Spirit of Times 25 Sept. 354/1 Freight depot.
1904 W. N. Harben Georgians 1 The long, brick freight depot.
1906 Springfield (Mass.) Weekly Republican 4 Oct. 7 What the English call a ‘railway goods station’, and what we call a freight depot.
freight elevator n.
ΚΠ
1903 G. Ade In Babel 18 He had patented certain devices which were used by all makers of passenger and freight elevators.
1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 21 Apr. 16/3 Expedition combined with safety, can only be secured by means of a freight elevator.
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. B5/2 ‘Do you know that only three apartment buildings in Toronto have freight elevators?’ he asked. ‘We sometimes have to put furniture on top of elevators to get it into buildings.’
freight engine n.
freight forwarder n.
ΚΠ
1922 G. T. Stufflebeam Traffic Dict. 64 Freight forwarder, one who is located at a port, attends to documentation, booking space, securing marine insurance and other detail in connection with export shipments.
1968 Economist 14 Sept. p. xxv/1 There is more pressure on the British freight forwarders than there is on their continental counterparts.
1969 Jane's Freight Containers 1968–9 28/1 The members of the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association Inc.
1970 Times 2 June (Container Suppl.) p. iv/3 The increasing range of forwarding work, the changing conditions under which it is carried out, and the new physical equipment—containers, in particular—have called for the new and wider description as freight forwarders.
freight house n.
ΚΠ
1848 Merchants' Mag. 18 383 The Worcester Railroad..has a freight-house in Boston.
1880 Harper's Mag. Mar. 580/1 The only freight-house of the line at Boston could hold but two freight-cars.
1918 in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1918) LIV. 218 They should be run as one road, thus doing away with the expensive separate staffs, repair shops, freight houses, etc.
1948 Daily Ardmoreite (Ardmore, Okla.) 28 July 13/2 The car was shunted to a siding near the freight house yesterday afternoon.
freight locomotive n.
ΚΠ
1934 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Freight locomotive.
1935 Discovery Nov. 326/1 The freight locomotives were designed to haul considerably heavier trains than the passenger locomotives.
freight-man n.
ΚΠ
1855 Gen. Term Rep. Goods..should be sent forward by a carrier, or freightman.
freight rate n.
ΚΠ
1848 Merchants' Mag. 18 101 Freight-rates—Iron, 25 cents per 100 pounds.
1881 Chicago Times 12 Mar. A freight-rate war between the eastern lines of railroads is regarded..as unavoidable.
1907 Westm. Gaz. 20 Nov. 10/2 Startling freight-rate experiments of the German railways.
1943 J. S. Huxley TVA xii. 114 The inter~territorial freight-rate problem of the U.S.A.
freight room n.
ΚΠ
1899 B. Tarkington Gentleman from Indiana xix. 354 The doors of the freight-room were thrown open.
freight route n.
ΚΠ
1881 Chicago Times 12 Mar. This has been the cheapest freight route to New York.
freight shed n.
ΚΠ
1881 Chicago Times 17 June Between the gas-works and the freight-sheds of the..railway.
freight steamer n.
ΚΠ
1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 3 Dec. 6/2 The St. John's Board of Trade..thinks that the interest of the country would be better served by grants to freight steamers.
freight terminal n.
ΚΠ
1967 Economist 18 Feb. 596/1 The dispute between the railway unions and the management of British Railways over freight terminals is like an old and hardy sore.
1967 Punch 12 July 66/1 A new international freight terminal.
freight traffic n.
ΚΠ
1885 Pall Mall Gaz. 10 Sept. 6/1 Goods traffic—called in America ‘freight’ traffic.
freight train n. (= goods train)
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > train > goods train
goods train1832
freight train1845
good1855
freight1861
1845 Ann. Rep. Boston & Worc. R.R. Freight-train.
1872 Japanese in America 199 Freight-trains frequently number..one hundred cars.
1887 M. Roberts Western Avernus 35 We found there was a freight train leaving this town at one o'clock.
1906 Harper's Mag. July 309 The wind brought the noise of a freight-train.
1968 B. Foster Changing Eng. Lang. i. 59 It has recently become fashionable to speak of a goods train as a freight train in the American fashion.
freight wagon n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > railway wagon or carriage > for goods
freight wagon1832
freight car1833
goods wagon1840
dog box1905
goods set1927
1832 Amer. Railroad Jrnl. 1 85/3 The snow has not prevented the running of carriages or freight waggons.
1889 K. Munroe Golden Days of ’49 ix. 91 Holstead and Thurston soon had their modest outfit..on board an Oregon freight wagon.
1910 J. Hart Vigilante Girl viii. 122 Behind these were..waiting stage coaches, and behind them freight wagons.
freight yard n.
ΚΠ
1881 Chicago Times 14 May Twelve days ago the railroad switchmen in all but one of the freight-yards in this city struck for a slight increase of their wages.
1903 N.Y. Times 24 Sept. 5 Two youths..were seen prowling about the freight yards.
1961 L. Mumford City in Hist. xv. 461 A waste of freight yards and marshalling yards.
b.
freight-handler n.
ΚΠ
1882 Pall Mall Gaz. 12 July 8/2 A riot has occurred [at Jersey city] between the freight-handlers on strike and the Italian labourers.
freight-handling n.
ΚΠ
1887 Bureau Statist. Labour (N.Y.) 327 There was also a great interruption of freight-handling.
C2. † freight-money n. Obsolete payment for conveyance of freight.
ˈfreightliner n. a train carrying goods in containers.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > train > goods train > types of
way freight1867
tank-train1901
red ball1906
manifest1912
liner train1962
unit train1962
freightliner1965
1965 Times 12 July 14 (caption) A typical Freightliner..will be loaded..by the latest equipment... The container is lifted off the road transport..and immediately transferred on to the rail wagon.
1966 Daily Tel. 11 Aug. 22/7 British Rail is to build 60 refrigerated glass fibre containers to carry meat and perishable goods in its freightliner trains.
1969 Lebende Sprachen 14 65/2 A grain terminal and a British Railways freightliner terminal are to be built at Tilbury.
ΚΠ
1755 N. Magens Ess. Insurances II. 189 All Insurances on expected Gain..future Freight-Monies, Seamens Wages and Mens Lives are universally forbid.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† freightadj.
Obsolete.
1.
a. Freighted, laden.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > trading vessel > cargo vessel > [adjective] > laden
fraughta1400
freighta1513
freighted1553
befraught1568
bestowed1621
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. cxxviv The Ryuer of Loyer wher at yt season certayne shyppes laye Freyght with vytall.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xxix. 736 And so [he] dispatched away the ships a second time fraight and laden with the spoiles of enemies.
1649 J. Evelyn Mem. (1857) III. 39 Ships, richly freight with wines and other commodities.
b. transferred and figurative. (Cf. fret full, fret v.6)
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > [adjective] > full
fullOE
chargedc1400
repletec1405
replesheda1450
gretfulc1540
torc1540
replenished1548
freight1565
freighted1567
implete1568
chocker1956
1565 J. Jewel Def. Apol. Churche Eng. (1611) 463 It was written by a man of an iron face..and is freight full of most shamelesse lies.
1587 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 107 The iades were fully fraight with heauie burdens.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. (1609) xxiii. xii. 481 Two strong holds..full and fraight [L. plena] of prizes and victuals.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 134. ⁋2 Each Paragraph is freight either with useful or delightful Notions.
2. Fraught, provided, abounding with.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > [adjective] > provided or supplied with something
warnishedc1340
graitha1400
yfraughtc1412
replenished1548
freight1556
furnished1570
fraught1574
supplied1590
suggested?1592
support1733
1556 R. Robinson tr. T. More Utopia (ed. 2) sig. Svii This yle is fraight with both bounteously.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. xii. sig. M4 The king..With suddein indignation fraight, Bad on that Messenger rude hands to reach.
1623 J. Webster Dutchesse of Malfy v. i. sig. L2 I'll goe in mine owne shape, When he shall see it fraight with loue, and dutie.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
freightv.
/freɪt/, U.S. /freɪt/ 1.
a. transitive. To furnish or load (a vessel) with a cargo; to hire or let out (a vessel) for the carriage of goods and passengers. Also with out and to or for (a place).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > provide or supply (something) [verb (transitive)] > provide or supply (a person or thing) with anything > stock (a place, etc.) with something
fillOE
store1264
pitchc1300
stuffc1386
fretc1400
replete?a1425
enstorea1450
engrange1480
plenish1488
freightc1503
people1581
stocka1640
stack1652
bestore1661
to lay in1662
society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > transport by water [verb (transitive)] > load or unload cargo > load a ship or a cargo
ladeOE
fill1297
fraughtc1400
freightc1503
load?1504
ballasta1616
stow1692
cargo1889
society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > transport by water [verb (transitive)] > hire or let out ship for transport
freight1831
c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. lxxxvijv/1 For too..lade and freith and cary awaye.
1555 R. Eden tr. S. von Herberstein Rerum moscouiticarum commentarii in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 296v Donco, where the marchauntes..fraight theyr shyppes.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxii. 119 With the Merchandise they buy at home, can fraight a Ship, to export it.
a1674 Earl of Clarendon Dialogue Want of Respect due Age in Tracts (1727) 293 They who freighted them out.
1702 C. Mather Magnalia Christi i. vi. 25/2 They Built one Ship more, which they fraighted for England.
1800 Marquess Wellesley Let. 30 Sept. in Select. Despatches (1877) 707 The British merchants..not having obtained the expected permission to freight their ships to the port of London.
1831 J. Sinclair Corr. II. 223 An opportunity of making immense sums of money, by freighting their ships to the powers at war.
1878 R. Simpson School of Shakspere I. 120 He proposed to freight as many English vessels as possible by Flemings, Frenchmen, Spaniards, and Italians.
b. transferred. To load, store. Also figurative of a burden: To bear upon as a load.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > [verb (transitive)] > load
seamc950
ladeOE
fethre?c1225
charge1297
lastc1400
load?1504
laden1514
loaden1568
burden1570
endorse1671
freight1829
sling load1933
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being harassed > condition of being oppressed > oppress [verb (transitive)]
beareOE
charka1300
to weigh downa1340
besit1377
to bear (a person or thing) heavyc1384
oppressc1384
thringa1400
empressc1400
accloyc1425
to sit downa1450
threst1513
downtread1536
to weigh back, on one side, to the earth1595
to bear (a person or thing) hard (also heavily, heavy, etc.)1602
pressa1616
weight1647
to bear (a person or thing) heavily1702
weigh1794
freight1892
1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton Devereux I. i. vii. 63 Fortune freights not your channel with her hoarded stores.
1838 J. Sparks W. Eaton in Amer. Biogr. xi. 301 The caravan had been freighted by the Bashaw only to this place.
1892 Talmage in N.Y. Weekly Witness 13 Jan. 7/5 All the sins of the past and of the present freighting him.
c. U.S. intransitive. to freight up: to take in a cargo. figurative.
ΚΠ
1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xiii. 153 How to freight up against probable fasts before starting.
2. transitive. To carry or transport (goods) as freight. Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > transport of goods in a vehicle > transport goods in vehicle [verb (transitive)]
drawc1300
freight1540
consign1653
run1701
haul1741
ship1857
travois1908
1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII c. 14 Euery brode wollen cloth freyghted to Daunske.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xv. 412 Every man freights his Goods in his own room; and probably lodges there, if he be on board himself.
1855 N.Y. Weekly Tribune 6 Jan. 1/2 The Ohio Railroads are freighting heavily.
1881 G. A. Henty Cornet of Horse (1888) xvi. 160 Van Duyk would have freighted a shipful of presents to Rupert's friends.
1920 J. M. Hunter Trail Drivers of Texas 163 My father sold them several yoke of old oxen which he had freighted to Mexico with.
1931 Randolph Enterprise (Elkins, W. Va.) 8 Jan. 4/5 He lived at Brownsville, Nebraska, and freighted from there to Fort Riley.
Derivatives
ˈfreighting n. also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > [noun] > transportation of goods
fraughtc1440
freight1463
freighting1672
water transport1780
shipment1802
boatage1861
carrying1869
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > transport of goods in a vehicle > [noun]
loadc1000
freight1463
carriage?1523
running1825
haulage1826
long haul1839
freighting1856
freightage1872
transport-riding1900
1672 in O. Airy Essex Papers (1890) I. 7 I Incourage all I possibly can buildinge of Ships of our owne (for Fraigtinge of Forringhners distresse us).
1769 E. Burke Observ. Late State Nation 14 The freighting business revived. The ships were fewer, but much larger.
1830 N. H. Bishop Four Months in Sneak-box 15 There appears to be no fixed freighting tariff established for boats.
1856 F. L. Olmsted Journey Slave States 396 The roads seemed to be doing a heavy freighting business with cotton.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Freighting, a letting out of vessels on freight or hire.
1884 L. Hamilton Mexican Hand-bk. 67 The water flowing down from the various ravines..fills the arroyo and renders freighting in wagons difficult.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1463
adj.a1513
v.c1503- equifinally
- equiform
- equiformal
- equiformity
- equigraphic
- equijacent
- equilater
- equilater figurate
- equilateral
- equilateral arch
- equilateral hyperbola
- equilateral shell
- equilaterally
- equilaterals
- equilenin
- equilibrant
- equilibrants
- equilibrate
- equilibrated
- equilibrates
- equilibrating
- equilibration
- equilibrations
- equilibrator
- espred