Transport

How to spell transport

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce transport

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does transport mean?

1. verbTo carry or convey people or goods from one place to another.
2. nounA system or means of carrying people or goods, or the act of carrying them.

Transport in a sentence

• verb

  The company uses refrigerated lorries to transport fresh produce overnight.

• noun

  The city invested heavily in public transport to reduce traffic.

• verb

  Volunteers offered to transport elderly residents to their medical appointments.

• noun

  Arranging transport for the equipment proved more expensive than expected.

Where does transport come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb transportare, formed from trans, meaning 'across' or 'over', and portare, meaning 'to carry' or 'to convey'. So at its literal root it simply means 'to carry across', the image of moving goods or people from one side of something to the other. English took it up in the late 1300s and early 1400s, largely by way of Old French transporter, first in the plain sense of carrying things from place to place. Over the centuries it gathered extra meanings: a person could be 'transported' to a distant penal colony, and a strong emotion could 'transport' someone, carrying them away with delight or rage. The same portare root powers a whole family of everyday words, including 'export', 'import', 'porter' and 'portable', which is a handy reminder that the spelling keeps the clean -port ending rather than anything trickier.

How the word is built

• trans- (across)
• port (from Latin portare: to carry)