Carrus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A wheeled vehicle used in ancient times for transporting goods or people; a two-wheeled cart or chariot commonly drawn by animals; a precursor to modern carts and wagons
2. An early form of transportation characterized by being a wooden vehicle with wheels, often horse-drawn; an ancient conveyance for carrying loads or passengers; a basic vehicle design used in classical antiquity
3. A historical wooden cart equipped with wheels for moving cargo or riders; an animal-drawn carriage used in ancient civilizations; a simple vehicular instrument of transport predating modern wheeled vehicles

Etymology: Classical Romans usually said "currus" for a chariot or wheeled vehicle, but "carrus" was a different word, borrowed from Gaulish, the Celtic language of Gaul. Roman writers adopted it for the heavy wagons and carts of northern Europe, which were unfamiliar to Mediterranean ears. Over time it spread through Latin and eventually displaced the older term, and its descendants include the French "char" and the English "car." In medieval Latin, the same form could also mean a load, a sense that is still preserved in English as "cartload." Modern English borrowed "carrus" directly as a learned term for ancient wheeled transport, so it sits alongside "car" as a doublet, two forms of one word that came into English by different routes.

Synonyms: wagon, cart, chariot, vehicle, carriage