embark

[em-bahrk]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR embark ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to board a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle, as for a journey.

to start an enterprise, business, etc.

verb (used with object)

to put or receive on board a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle.

to involve (someone) in an enterprise.

to venture or invest (something) in an enterprise.

Origin of embark

1540–50; < Middle French embarquer < Spanish embarcar, equivalent to em- em-¹ + -barcar, verbal derivative of barca bark³

Related formsre·em·bark, verb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for embark

enter, commence, launch, board, entrain, emplane

Examples from the Web for embark

Contemporary Examples of embark

Now that the Confucian-inspired mourning period is over, the son is free to embark on his own programs and policies.
Kim Jong Un’s Kid Gloves Are Now Off
Gordon G. Chang
December 17, 2014
You may well be about to embark on four days of cosseting, eating, drinking, and sleeping.
How to Make It Through Thanksgiving Alive
Lizzie Crocker
November 26, 2014
In the words of Shondo, a professional cage fighter turned Paladin, “It was my fate to embark on this journey.”
'The Quest' Review: Behold, a Campy 'Game of Thrones' Reality Show
Amy Zimmerman
August 1, 2014
Churchill then decided to embark on a British cruiser, the Belfast, and watch the landings from offshore.
D-Day Historian Craig Symonds Talks About History’s Most Amazing Invasion
Marc Wortman
June 5, 2014
When I embark upon a film, I design a set of rules and create the film according to these rules.
Inside ‘Maidan’: Sergei Loznitsa on His Ukrainian Uprising Doc and Putin’s ‘Fascist’ Regime
Richard Porton
May 24, 2014

Historical Examples of embark

Somewhere about the 20th the soldiers began to embark, to the number of 1700 men.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
From thence I shall proceed to Yarmouth, and embark immediately.
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
M. Gardoqui will embark the last of this or first of next month.
The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. IX
Various
You are at liberty to embark in them with your men before we scuttle this ship.
Captain Blood
Rafael Sabatini
Embark, and the romance quits our vessel and hangs on every other sail in the horizon.
Essays, Second Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for embark

embark

verb

to board (a ship or aircraft)

(intr; usually foll by on or upon) to commence or engage (in) a new project, venture, etc

Derived Formsembarkation, nounembarkment, noun

Word Origin for embark

C16: via French from Old Provençal embarcar, from em- + barca boat, barque

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for embark

1540s, from Middle French embarquer, from em- (see en- (1)) + barque "small ship" (see bark (n.)). Related: Embarked; embarking.