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Freight

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freight

[freyt]
–noun
1. goods, cargo, or lading transported for pay, whether by water, land, or air.
2. the ordinary conveyance or means of transport of goods provided by common carriers (distinguished from express ): Shipping by freight is less expensive.
3. the charges, fee, or compensation paid for such transportation: We pay the freight.
4. (esp. in Britain) the cargo, or any part of the cargo, of a vessel; merchandise transported by water.
5. Chiefly British. transportation of goods by water.
6. freight train.
7. Slang. cost or price, esp. when high: I'd like a larger house, but can't afford the freight.
–verb (used with object)
8. to load; burden: a story heavily freighted with private meaning.
9. to load with goods or merchandise for transportation: It took all night to freight the ship.
10. to transport as freight; send by freight.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME freyght (n.) < MD or MLG vrecht, var. of vracht. See fraught


freightless, adjective


1. Freight, cargo, shipment refer to goods being transported from place to place. Freight is the general term for goods transported from one place to another by any means: to send freight from New York to New Orleans. Cargo is the term generally used for goods carried by ship or plane: to send a cargo to Europe. Shipment is a quantity of goods destined for a particular place, no matter how sent: a shipment of potatoes. 3. freightage, haulage. 8. charge.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Freight
freight   (frāt)   
n.  
  1. Goods carried by a vessel or vehicle, especially by a commercial carrier; cargo.

  2. A burden; a load.

    1. Commercial transportation of goods.

    2. The charge for transporting goods. Also called freightage.

  3. A railway train carrying goods only.

tr.v.   freight·ed, freight·ing, freights
  1. To convey commercially as cargo.

  2. To load with goods to be transported.


[Middle English fraught, freight, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German vracht, vrecht; see aik- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

freight 
1228, from M.Du. or M.L.G. vracht, vrecht, originally "cost of transport," probably from O.Fris., from P.Gmc. *fra-aihtiz "absolute possession, property," from *fra-, intensive prefix + *aik "to be master of, possess." Freighter "vessel for cargo" first recorded 1839.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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