Etymograph

English

freight

Freight comes from Middle Dutch vracht ‘freight, load, cargo’, from Proto-West Germanic *fra- ‘forms verbs with the sense of "away from" or…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- ‘to come into possession of, obtain’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eyḱ-‘to come into possession of, obtain’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*aihtiz‘possessions, property’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fra-‘off, away’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame form‘forms verbs with the sense of "away from" or "off of"’reconstructed
  5. Old Saxonc. 800–1200frāht
  6. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600vracht
  7. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500same form‘freight, load, cargo’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500freight
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1625same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eyḱ-‘to come into possession of, obtain’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*aihtiz‘possessions, property’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fra-‘off, away’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame form‘forms verbs with the sense of "away from" or "off of"’reconstructed
  5. Old Saxonc. 800–1200frāht
  6. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600vracht
  7. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500same form‘freight, load, cargo’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500freight
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1625same form

Earliest quotation: 1625, John Donne: “Diſcretion is the ballaſt of our Ship, that carries…”

Formed from for- + aught

Proto-Indo-European *pro- ‘before, in front of’

Proto-Germanic *fra- ‘off, away’

Proto-West Germanic *fra- ‘forms verbs with the sense of "away from" or…’

English for-

The story

The English word can be analysed as for- + aught, and is a doublet of fraught.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- ‘to come into possession of, obtain’

own, owner, owe, ought, 6 more

through Middle Dutch vracht ‘freight, load, cargo’

fret, fraught

Another origin of freight

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500freighten
  2. Englishtodayfreight

Today it means

noun The transportation of goods (originally by water; now also (chiefly US) by land); also, the hiring of a vehicle or vessel for such transportation.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- / freight

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