Added 9 October 2026
freight
/fɹeɪt/ noun
In Latin: onus Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about freight at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- The transportation of goods (originally by water; now also by land); also, the hiring of a vehicle or vessel for such transportation.
-
Goods or items in transport; cargo, luggage.
The freight shifted and the trailer turned over on the highway.
-
Payment for transportation.
The freight was more expensive for cars than for coal.
verb
- To load (a vehicle or vessel) with freight (cargo); also, to hire or rent out (a vehicle or vessel) to carry cargo or passengers. To transport (goods). To load or store (goods, etc.). To carry (something) as if it is a burden or load.
- To load (a vehicle or vessel) with freight (cargo); also, to hire or rent out (a vehicle or vessel) to carry cargo or passengers.
- To transport (goods).
adjective
- Freighted; laden.
Origin
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”)).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)