vessel

American  

[ves-uhl] / ˈvɛs əl /

noun

• vessels
  plural

1. 

   a craft for traveling on water, now usually one larger than an ordinary rowboat; a ship or boat.

2. an airship.

3. a hollow or concave utensil, as a cup, bowl, pitcher, or vase, used for holding liquids or other contents.

4. Anatomy, Zoology. a tube or duct, as an artery or vein, containing or conveying blood or some other body fluid.

5. Botany. a duct formed in the xylem, composed of connected cells that have lost their intervening partitions, that conducts water and mineral nutrients.

6. a person regarded as a holder or receiver of something, especially something nonmaterial.

   a vessel of grace;

   a vessel of wrath.

---

vessel British  

/ ˈvɛsəl /

noun

1. any object used as a container, esp for a liquid

2. a passenger or freight-carrying ship, boat, etc

3. an aircraft, esp an airship

4. anatomy a tubular structure that transports such body fluids as blood and lymph

5. botany a tubular element of xylem tissue consisting of a row of cells in which the connecting cell walls have broken down

6. rare a person regarded as an agent or vehicle for some purpose or quality

   she was the vessel of the Lord

---

vessel Scientific  

/ vĕs′əl /

1. A blood vessel.

2. A long, continuous column made of the lignified walls of dead vessel elements, along which water flows in the xylem of angiosperms.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unvesseled
  adjective
• vesseled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vessels
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vessel

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French va(i)ssel, vessel, from Latin vāscellum, from vās “vessel” ( cf. vase) + -cellum, diminutive suffix

Explanation

What do a canoe, a soda can, and your arteries have in common? Each one is a type of vessel. A vessel can be a ship, a container for holding liquids, or a tube that transports blood throughout your body. Vessel has a number of different meanings, yet all of them relate in some way to liquids and transportation. This relationship in meaning has existed in language for a long time; the word vessel comes from the Latin word, vascellum, which also means both “vase” and “ship.” The use of the word vessel in reference to “blood vessels” came about in English during the 14th century.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vessel vessels

The 18 crew members on the second vessel were rescued.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Bodrum is perhaps best appreciated from the water, ideally on board a gulet, a wooden sailing vessel common in southwest Turkey.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Every grog tempered vessel examined by the researchers contained what is known as multigenerational grog, in which one fragment of grog contains an even older piece of grog inside it.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

According to the available information, one vessel was carrying wheat and heading south, while the other -- which sank -- was sailing north, Radev said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

Side-scan sonar is a type of sonar system that can be towed through the water from a surface vessel or a submarine, or mounted on a ship’s hull.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

A pickup in Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz kept Brent oil futures elevated,” supporting the dollar, CBA’s Carol Kong says in a research report.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

It follows previous complaints about conditions on board two of Tui's river vessels.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Naval vessels sometimes communicate with other ships via lasers that can’t be jammed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

But decorative similarities alone could not reveal where the vessels had actually been made.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

Even if their Oreo milk shakes are giant vessels of frothy deliciousness.

From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli

Related Words

• barge
• boat
• craft
• liner
• ocean liner
• tanker