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Today it means

freight

goods transported in bulk by ship, train, or other vehicle

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Where does the word "freight" come from? It comes from Middle Dutch vrecht, and was adopted directly into English (1400s-1500s).

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Where does the word "freight" come from? It comes from Middle Dutch vrecht, and was adopted directly into English (1400s-1500s).

Freight’s story begins in Middle Dutch: vrecht meant “the cost of shipping goods.” The cost of transporting goods by ship. It reached English by 1400s-1500s as freight. Dutch and Hanseatic shipping shaped English trade vocabulary. Today, freight means goods transported in bulk by ship, train, or other vehicle.

  1. Stage 1 · Middle Dutch · medieval vrecht "the cost of shipping goods", the cost of transporting goods by ship.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1400s-1500s freight "goods transported in bulk; the cost of transport", Dutch and Hanseatic shipping shaped English trade vocabulary.

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