What does "vessel" mean?
A craft for transportation on or in water, air, or space.; Any craft designed for transportation on or in water, such as a ship, boat, or submarine.
Vessel
/ˈvɛs.əl/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A craft for transportation on or in water, air, or space.; Any craft designed for transportation on or in water, such as a ship, boat, or submarine.
- Grammar: vessel is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: agent, aircraft carrier, aircraft tender, ammunition ship.
- Usage evidence: A child is not a vessel for filling, but a fire to light.
How to use "vessel"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "vessel" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "vessel" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "vessel" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "vessel" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "vessel" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "agent" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "vessel", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A craft for transportation on or in water, air, or space.; Any craft designed for transportation on or in water, such as a ship, boat, or submarine.
"But my hope was, that if I stood along this coast till I came to that part where the English traded, I should find some of their vessels upon their usual design of trade, that would relieve and take us in."
- 2 a craft designed for water transportation wordnet
- 3 A craft for transportation on or in water, air, or space.; A craft designed for transportation through air or space.
"Driven from their home system by the geth nearly three centuries ago, most quarians now live aboard the Migrant Fleet, a flotilla of fifty thousand vessels ranging in size from passenger shuttles to mobile space stations."
- 4 an object used as a container (especially for liquids) wordnet
- 5 Dishes and cutlery collectively, especially if made of precious metals. dialectal, obsolete, uncountable
"All his Vessell was of golde and siluer, pottis, basons, ewers, dysshes, flagons, barels, cuppes, and all other thyngis."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 a tube in which a body fluid circulates wordnet
- 7 A container of liquid or other substance, such as a glass, goblet, cup, bottle, bowl, or pitcher.
- 8 A person as a container of qualities or feelings. figuratively
"A teacher should be a vessel of knowledge."
- 9 A tube or canal that carries fluid in an animal or plant.
"Blood and lymph vessels are found in humans; xylem and phloem vessels are found in plants."
Verb
- 1 To put into a vessel. transitive
"1577, William Harrison, The Description of England in Holinshed’s Chronicles, Volume 1, Book 3, Chapter 12 “Of venemous beastes &c.,” Our hony alſo is taken and reputed to be the beſt bycauſe it is harder, better wrought & clenlyer veſſelled vp, thẽ that which cõmeth from beyond the ſea, where they ſtampe and ſtraine their combes, Bées, & young Blow|inges altogither into the ſtuffe, as I haue béene informed."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"A child is not a vessel for filling, but a fire to light."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "vessel"?
Common synonyms include: agent, aircraft carrier, aircraft tender, ammunition ship, amphora, argo.
How do you use "vessel" in a sentence?
A child is not a vessel for filling, but a fire to light.
How do you pronounce "vessel"?
Pronounced /ˈvɛs.əl/.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wāss Late Latin vās Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Italic *-elom Late Latin -ulum Late Latin -culum Late Latin vāsculum Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Italic *-elos Late Latin -lus Late Latin vāscellum Old French vaisselbor. Middle English vessel English vessel Inherited from Middle English vessel, vessell (“small container”); from Old French vaissel (compare modern French vaisseau and Catalan vaixell), from Late Latin vāscellum, diminutive of vāsculum, diminutive of vās (“vase, vessel”).