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.

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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

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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.

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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

Roughly 400 years ago, a member of the Indigenous Potano-Timucua tribe shaped a small clay vessel by hand.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

The vessel was searched and 329 people were removed on foot when it berthed at Ardrossan.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

“I ran into a tiki bar one time. That wasn’t too good,” said Derrick Hoy, 55, who fishes scallops in the Atlantic on a different vessel from Crusher, the 30-foot boat he competes with.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

The Indian captain of an alleged Russian shadow fleet oil vessel seized by British commandos has been made a "scapegoat", his wife told AFP, as her husband awaits trial.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

Under the direction of the king’s brother-in-law Charles Brandon, extremely strong cables were attached to the Mary Rose and then fastened to two large surface ships sailing on either side of the sunken vessel.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Cooking vessels often retain traces of burned food and charcoal on their interiors.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

Industry experts remain sceptical, saying that even if more vessels start going through, the bulk of global shipping will remain along established lines for the foreseeable future.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

Even so, the NSR could attract bulk liquid vessels carrying oil and liquefied natural gas, who could see their costs slashed by 45 to 50 percent in some cases, the study found.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

In 2023, the ACP cut the number of vessels using the waterway during the last El Niño period after Panama was hit with its driest October since records began in 1950.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

So the Astrea, and some four hundred other vessels, started in a vast convoy, guarded by British warships.

From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham

Related Words

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