freight
English · Thesaurus
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freight¹
- /fɹeɪt/ US, UK
- /fɹæɪt/ Australia, New Zealand
- /fɾet/ Scotland
- /fɾeit/ Wales
Rhymes with -eɪt
Where it comes from
From Late Middle English freight, freght, freyght [and other forms], a variant of fraught, fraght (“transport of goods or people, usually by water; transportation fee; transportation facilities; cargo or passengers of a ship; (figuratively) burden; ballast of a ship; goods; a charge”), from Middle Dutch vracht, vrecht, and Middle Low German vrecht (“cargo, freight; transportation fee”), from Old Saxon frāht, frēht, from Proto-West Germanic *fra- (from Proto-Germanic *fra- (prefix meaning ‘completely, fully’)) + *aihti (from Proto-Germanic *aihtiz (“possessions, property”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- (“to come into possession of, obtain; to own, possess”)).
The English word can be analysed as for- + aught, and is a doublet of fraught.
Cognates
* French fret (“cargo, freight; transportation fees; rental of a ship”)
* Old English ǣht (“livestock; possession, property; power”)
* Old High German frēht (“earnings”)
* Portuguese frete (“cargo, freight; transportation fees”)
* Spanish flete (“cargo, freight; charter (hire of a vehicle for transporting cargo)”)
* Swedish frakt c (“cargo, freight; transportation fees”)
noun freights
- The transportation of goods (originally by water; now also (chiefly US) by land); also, the hiring of a vehicle or vessel for such transportation. [A]fter ſome Conſideration, that the City of Hamburgh might happen to be as good a Market for our Goods as London, we all took Freight with him, and having put my Goods on board, it was moſt natural for me to put my Steward on board to take care of them, […]
-
Goods or items in transport; cargo, luggage.
The freight shifted and the trailer turned over on the highway.
Similar: lading
- Payment for transportation. The freight was more expensive for cars than for coal.
- A burden, a load. Thus Apple Trees, whoſe Trunks are ſtrong to bear Their ſpreading Boughs, exert themſelves in Air: Want no supply, but ſtand ſecure alone, Not truſting foreign Forces, but their own: 'Till with the ruddy freight the bending Branches groan.
- Cultural or emotional associations. Ideally, those engaged in contributing to that discourse would have some awareness of the emotional forces which may be called into play by the simple appearance in print or a broadcast clip of a phrase built around the word 'freedom'. This may seem to be a quite unrealistic aim, until we note that
- Ellipsis of freight train They shipped it ordinary freight to spare the expense.
freight²
- /fɹeɪt/ US, UK
- /fɹæɪt/ Australia, New Zealand
- /fɾet/ Scotland
- /fɾeit/ Wales
Rhymes with -eɪt
Where it comes from
The verb is derived from Late Middle English freighten, freghten, a variant of fraughten, fraghten (“to load (a ship with cargo or passengers); to hire (a ship) for transporting goods; to provide fully (with goods, money, etc.); to stow away”), and then either:
* from fraught, fraght (noun) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive form of verbs); or
* from Middle Dutch vrachten, vrechten (“to load (a ship with cargo or passengers); to hire (a ship) for transporting goods, to fraught”), from vracht, vrecht (noun) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive form of verbs).
The adjective is:
* derived from Middle English freght, freight, freyght, the past participle of fraughten (verb) (see above); and/or
* a contraction of freighted, the past participle of the verb.
verb freights · freighting · freighted · freight
- To load (a vehicle or vessel) with freight (cargo); also, to hire or rent out (a vehicle or vessel) to carry cargo or passengers. It is true, there be few Merchants, that with the Merchandiſe they buy at home, can fraight a Ship, to export it; or with that they buy abroad, to bring it home; and have therefore need to joyn together in one Society; […]
- To transport (goods).
- To load or store (goods, etc.). [W]hat though it is thou [i.e., sensibility] that rendereſt anguiſh more frequent, that filleſt the eye with the ſympathetic tear! yet is it not thou that ſwelleſt it with the tear of joy, and freighteſt the heart beyond the power of utterance,— […]
- To carry (something) as if it is a burden or load.
- Chiefly followed by up: to carry as part of a cargo. How often, when those hopes are greatest, The bark that bears them must not be Trusted with more than what thou freightest For sun-lit hour and summer sea: Who, when the waves are high and dark, Could steer, if freighted deep, such bark?
adjective more freight · most freight
- Freighted; laden. [H]is ſouldiers, ſeeing great prizes brought out of the enemies Land, and every ſhip freight therewith; were mightily incenſed and ſet on fire with a burning deſire to be tranſported over thither with all ſpeed poſſible.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: freightage, payload, shipment, cargo, lading, loading, consignment, load, freight rate, affreightment, transportation, shipping, freighter, road, traffic, charterparty
Translations
Every language
noun transportation of goods
| Español | transporte de mercancías |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 貨物輸送 kamotsu yusō |
| 中文 | 貨運 /货运 huòyùn |
| Français | fret |
| Ελληνικά | μεταφορά metaforá |
| Русский | фрахт fraxt, перево́зка perevózka, транспортиро́вка transportiróvka |
noun goods or items in transport — see also cargo
| Español | flete, carga, cargamento |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 화물 hwamul |
| 日本語 | 貨物 kamotsu |
| 中文 | 貨物 /货物 huòwù |
| Português | carga |
| Français | fret, cargaison, chargement |
| Deutsch | Fracht |
| Ελληνικά | φορτίο fortío |
| Русский | фрахт fraxt, груз gruz |
noun payment for transportation
| Español | flete |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 貨物輸送運賃 kamotsu yusō unchin |
| 中文 | 運費 /运费 yùnfèi |
| Português | frete |
| Français | fret |
| Deutsch | Fracht |
| Ελληνικά | ναύλος návlos |
| Русский | фрахт fraxt, пла́та за прово́з pláta za provóz |
verb to load (a vehicle or vessel) with freight (cargo)
| Español | cargar |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 積む tsumu |
| Deutsch | befrachten |
| Ελληνικά | φορτώνω fortóno |
verb to hire or rent out (a vehicle or vessel) to carry cargo or passengers
| Tiếng Việt | mướn tàu |
|---|
verb to transport (goods)
| 日本語 | 貨物輸送 kamotsu yusō |
|---|---|
| Ελληνικά | μεταφέρω metaféro |
| Tiếng Việt | vận chuyển |
Talk about this word "freight." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/freight. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. freight. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/freight "freight." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/freight.Cite this
@misc{freight_2026,
title = {freight},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/freight},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
