English Online Dictionary. What means ferry? What does ferry mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English ferien (“to carry, convey, convey in a boat”), from Old English ferian (“to carry, convey, bear, bring, lead, conduct, betake oneself to, be versed in, depart, go”), from Proto-West Germanic *farjan, from Proto-Germanic *farjaną (“to make or let go, transfer, ferry”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to bring or carry over, transfer, pass through”).
Cognate with German dialectal feren, fähren (“to row, sail”), Danish færge (“to ferry”), Swedish färja (“to ferry”), Icelandic ferja (“to ferry”), Norwegian Nynorsk/Norwegian Bokmål ferje (“to ferry”) Old Norse ferja. Related to fare.
Pronunciation
- (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfɛɹi/
- (Northern England) IPA(key): /ˈfɛɹɪ/
- (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈfeɹi/
- Rhymes: -ɛɹi
- Homophone: fairy (only in accents with the Mary-marry-merry merger)
- Hyphenation: fer‧ry
Verb
ferry (third-person singular simple present ferries, present participle ferrying, simple past and past participle ferried)
- (transitive) To carry; transport; convey.
- (transitive) To move someone or something from one place to another, usually repeatedly.
- (transitive) 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.
- (intransitive) To pass over water in a boat or by ferry.
Noun
ferry (plural ferries)
- (nautical) A ship used to transport people, smaller vehicles and goods from one port to another, usually on a regular schedule.
- A place where passengers are transported across water in such a ship.
- The legal right or franchise that entitles a corporate body or an individual to operate such a service.
- (Can we add an example for this sense?)
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
See also
- boat
- ship
Anagrams
- Freyr, Fryer, fryer, refry
French
Etymology
Borrowed from English ferry.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fɛ.ʁi/ ~ /fe.ʁi/
Noun
ferry m (plural ferries or ferrys)
- ferry
Derived terms
- car-ferry
Portuguese
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English ferry.
Pronunciation
Noun
ferry m (plural ferries)
- ferry (boat)
- Synonym: ferryboat
References
Spanish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English ferry.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈferi/ [ˈfe.ri]
- Rhymes: -eri
- Syllabification: fe‧rry
Noun
ferry m (plural ferrys or ferries)
- Alternative spelling of ferri
Usage notes
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
Further reading
- “ferry”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10