vessel

[ves-uhl]

noun

1. a craft for traveling on water, now usually one larger than an ordinary rowboat; a ship or boat.

2. an airship.

3. a hollow or concave utensil, as a cup, bowl, pitcher, or vase, used for holding liquids or other contents.

4. Anatomy, Zoology.,  a tube or duct, as an artery or vein, containing or conveying blood or some other body fluid.

5. Botany.,  a duct formed in the xylem, composed of connected cells that have lost their intervening partitions, that conducts water and mineral nutrients.

6. a person regarded as a holder or receiver of something, especially something nonmaterial.

   a vessel of grace;

   a vessel of wrath.

vessel

/ ˈvɛsəl /

noun

1. any object used as a container, esp for a liquid

2. a passenger or freight-carrying ship, boat, etc

3. an aircraft, esp an airship

4. anatomy a tubular structure that transports such body fluids as blood and lymph

5. botany a tubular element of xylem tissue consisting of a row of cells in which the connecting cell walls have broken down

6. rare,  a person regarded as an agent or vehicle for some purpose or quality

   she was the vessel of the Lord

vessel

1. A blood vessel.

2. A long, continuous column made of the lignified walls of dead vessel elements, along which water flows in the xylem of angiosperms.

Other Word Forms

• vesseled adjective
• unvesseled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of vessel¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French va(i)ssel, vessel, from Latin vāscellum, from vās “vessel” ( vase ) + -cellum, diminutive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of vessel¹

C13: from Old French vaissel, from Late Latin vascellum urn, from Latin vās vessel

Example Sentences

He spent time in Iowa, Michigan, and most memorably, Alaska, where he operated cranes, forklifts, and anchored vessels as a dock worker at Pacific Star Seafoods.

Read more on Salon

The last known instance occurred in October 2024, when a German naval vessel participating in Unifil intercepted and neutralised a drone off Lebanon's coast during the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Read more on BBC

Engine parts, navigation and other electrical equipment could end up on other CalMac vessels, while the maker's plate is now on display in North Yorkshire where the ship was built in 1985.

Read more on BBC

The Navy's statement said both crew members aboard ejected themselves from the vessel and were safely recovered.

Read more on Barron's

It has targeted operating companies for the Arctic LNG 2 project, storage vessels, shipping companies that it suspected were seeking to buy specialized carriers for the project and companies working on other facilities.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• barge 
• boat 
• craft 
• liner 
• ocean liner 
• tanker