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Ferry
Definitions
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 A census-designated place in Denali Borough, Alaska, United States. countable, uncountable
- 3 A township in Oceana County, Michigan, United States, named after Thomas W. Ferry. countable, uncountable
- 4 An unincorporated community in Greene County, Ohio, United States. countable, uncountable
- 1 A boat or ship used to transport people, smaller vehicles and goods from one port to another, usually on a regular schedule.
"Near-synonym: ferryboat"
- 2 transport by boat or aircraft wordnet
- 3 A place where passengers are transported across water in such a ship.
"It can pass the ferry backward into light."
- 4 a boat that transports people or vehicles across a body of water and operates on a regular schedule wordnet
- 5 The service constituted by this watercraft's operation; the business (company) that operates such a service.
"In those days there was a ferry at Sleepytown. Modern roads and bridges for motor vehicles have rendered such local river ferries obsolete."
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- 6 The legal right or franchise that entitles a corporate body or an individual to operate such a service: a right of ferry.
"granted a ferry to"
- 1 To carry; transport; convey. transitive
"Trucks plowed through the water to ferry flood victims to safety."
- 2 travel by ferry wordnet
- 3 To move someone or something from one place to another, usually repeatedly. transitive
"Being a good waiter takes more than the ability to ferry plates of food around a restaurant."
- 4 transport by ferry wordnet
- 5 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
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- 6 transport from one place to another wordnet
- 7 To pass over water in a boat or by ferry. intransitive
"They ferry over this Lethean sound / Both to and fro."
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 Dutch veren (“to ferry”), German dialectal feren, fähren (“to row, sail”), Danish færge (“to ferry”), Faroese, Icelandic ferja (“to ferry”), Norwegian Bokmål ferge, ferje (“ferry”), Norwegian Nynorsk ferja, ferje, ferju (“to ferry”), Swedish färja (“to ferry”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (farjan, “to sail, row”). Related to fare.
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 Dutch veren (“to ferry”), German dialectal feren, fähren (“to row, sail”), Danish færge (“to ferry”), Faroese, Icelandic ferja (“to ferry”), Norwegian Bokmål ferge, ferje (“ferry”), Norwegian Nynorsk ferja, ferje, ferju (“to ferry”), Swedish färja (“to ferry”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (farjan, “to sail, row”). Related to fare.
Two main origins: * A reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Fearadhaigh (“descendant of Fearadhach”), a personal name probably derived from an adjective derivative of fear (“man”). * A metonymic occupational surname for a ferryman or a topographic surname for someone who lived by a ferry crossing, from Middle English feri (“ferry”).
See also for "ferry"
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