vessel
n. countablen. a large ship or boat that travels on water. It can also mean a container for liquids, like a bowl or a jar, or a tube in your body that carries blood.
n. a craft designed for water navigation, typically larger than a rowboat; alternatively, a hollow container or a duct within an organism that conveys fluids. Often used in formal, legal, or technical contexts.
The large vessel sailed slowly into the harbor.
The coast guard inspected the fishing vessel to ensure it met all safety regulations for open-sea travel.
Archaeologists recovered several ceramic vessels from the shipwreck, providing insight into the trade routes and storage methods of the ancient civilization.
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”).
Commonly used in nautical contexts for ships and in medical contexts for veins and arteries (blood vessels).