Ferry
/ˈfɛri/noun
A boat or service for carrying people, vehicles, or goods across a body of water.
Did you know?English ferry comes from a Germanic root behind the idea of carrying or transporting, and it’s historically tied to the same deep source as words for travel and passage, not magic or omen-based language.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*per-
“to lead, pass over, carry across”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*farjaną
“to carry, convey, transport”
Old English
OE
ferian
“to carry, convey, transport”
Middle English
ME
ferren
“to transport across water”
Modern English
English
ferry
“a boat or service for carrying people or vehicles across water”