freight

UK/fɹeɪt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/fɹæɪt/

freight 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. Also the ellipsis of freight train.

Noun

freight (usually uncountable, plural freights)

(usually) 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, […]1719, [Daniel Defoe], The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 372
(usually) Goods or items in transport; cargo, luggage.
- The freight shifted and the trailer turned over on the highway.
- Diſcretion is the ballaſt of our Ship, that carries us ſteady; but Zeal is the very Fraight, the Cargaſon, the Merchandiſe it ſelf, vvhich enriches us in the land of the living; and this vvas our caſe, vve vvere all come to eſteem our Ballaſt more then our Fraight, our Diſcretion more then our...1625 January 24 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), John Donne, “A Sermon Preached at St. Dunstans January 15. 1625. The First Sermon after Our Dispersion, by the Sickness.”, in XXVI. Sermons...
Synonyms:

lading
(countable, usually) Payment for transportation.
- The freight was more expensive for cars than for coal.
- [I]f I would let the ſame Men who were in the Ship navigate her, he would hire the Ship to go to Japan, and would ſend them from thence to the Philippine Iſlands with another Loading, which he would pay the Freight of, before they went from Japan; and that at their Return, he would buy the Ship: […]1719, [Daniel Defoe], The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 292
(countable, figuratively, usually) 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.1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 89, lines...
- Now homeward through the thickening hubbub, where
  See, among less distinguishable shapes,
  […] the stately and slow-moving Turk,
  With freight of slippers piled beneath his arm!1799–1805 (date written), William Wordsworth, “Book VII. Residence in London.”, in The Prelude, or Growth of a Poet’s Mind; an Autobiographical Poem, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1850, →OCLC...
(figuratively, specifically, usually) 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...2007, Barry Richards, “Poor Emotional Governance”, in Emotional Governance: Politics, Media and Terror, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, →DOI, →ISBN, part III (The Search for Connection)...

Verb

freight (third-person singular simple present freights, present participle freighting, simple past and past participle freighted)

(transitive) 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; […]1651, Thomas Hobbes, “Of Systemes Subject, Politicall, and Private”, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew...
- If a Factor do receive a ſum of Mony of the owner of a Ship, in conſideration that he freighteth the ſaid Ship for a Voyage, promiſing to repay the ſaid Mony at the return of the ſaid Voyage; if the ſaid Factor hath freighted this Ship for another mans Account, this Merchant is to have the benefit...1684, Abraham Liset, “Observations Concerning Factors”, in Amphithalami, or, The Accomptants Closet, Being an Abridgment of Merchants-accounts Kept by Debitors and Creditors; […] , London: […] Miles...
(transitive) To transport (goods).
(broadly, transitive) 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,— […]1783 October, Castalic [pseudonym], “The Essayist. Number XVI. Sensibility, a Rhapsody.”, in The Lady’s Magazine; or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex. Appropriated Solely to Their Use and...
- Fortune freights not your channel with her hoarded stores, and Pleasure ventures not her silken sails upon your tide; […]1829, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “A Change of Prospects—a New Insight into the Character of the Hero—a Conference between Two Brothers”, in Devereux. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]...
(figuratively, transitive) To carry (something) as if it is a burden or load.
(US, also, figuratively, intransitive) 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?1840 March, F[rederick] W[illiam] Thomas, “A Poet to His Sister”, in The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, volume XV, number 3, New York, N.Y.: […] William Osborn, […], →OCLC, stanza 4...
- Experience freightest for a better life.
  The folk that comes not with us have offended
  In that for which one Cæsar, triumphing,
  Heard himself called in contumely, 'Queen.'1867, Dante Alighieri, “Canto XXVI”, in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, transl., The Divine Comedy, volume II (Purgatorio), Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 167, lines 75–78

Adjective

freight (comparative more freight, superlative most freight)

(obsolete) 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.1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book XXIX]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC, page 575

Also used as

freight is also the ellipsis of freight train.

freight meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Punjabi

freight in Hindi

मालभाड़ा

freight in Urdu

مال برداری, مال بردار

freight in Bengali

মালবাহী

freight in Punjabi

ਮਾਲ-ਢੁਆਈ

More languagesFewer languages

freight in Nepali: माल ढुलाई, मालभाडा, मालभाड़ा
freight in Tagalog: plete
freight in Thai: ค่าระวางสินค้า kâa-rá-waang-sǐn-káa
freight in Vietnamese: mướn tàu, vận chuyển

Examples of freight in a sentence

Space for carrying light freight also features in Grand Union's proposal.2019 October, “South Wales Open Access Bid”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allen Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 15:
To earn freight there must, of course, be either a right delivery, or a due and proper offer to deliver the goods to the consignees.1881 February 26, [John] Lowell, judge of the Circuit Court, District of Massachusetts, “Taylor and Others v. Insurance Company of North...
[T]hey who freight their wealth upon a hundred vessels are more liable, Morton, are they not, to the peril of the winds and waves, than they who venture it only upon one?1829, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “In which the Hero Shews Decision on More Points than One—More of Isora’s Character is Developed”, in...
On their journeys those Britons were used to long fasts, and knew how to bear them; and also how to freight up against probable fasts before starting, after the style of the Indian and the anaconda.1889, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “Freemen!”, in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, New York, N.Y.: Charles...

All 40 example sentences with freight

Synonyms of freight

lading

Forms of freight

Noun
plural	freights
Verb
third-person singular present	freights
present participle	freighting
past participle	freighted
past	freighted
second-person singular present (archaic)	freightest
second-person singular past (archaic)	freightedst
third-person singular present (archaic)	freighteth
Adjective
comparative	more freight
superlative	most freight

Plural of freight: freights

Origin of freight

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”)

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.

Phrases with freight

5 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with freight

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about freight

What does freight mean?: Freight means the transportation of goods (originally by water; now also (chiefly US) by land); also, the hiring of a vehicle or vessel for such transportation.
What is freight in Hindi?: Freight in Hindi is मालभाड़ा. See Freight meaning in Hindi.
How do you use freight in a sentence?: Space for carrying light freight also features in Grand Union's proposal.
What part of speech is freight?: Freight can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
How do you pronounce freight?: Freight is pronounced /fɹeɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of freight?: The plural of freight is freights.

Words near freight in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: freight (page history and authors); freight (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); freight (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); freight (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); freight (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); freight (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-freight.ogg.

Cite this entry: “freight.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/freight. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.