Cunard

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A British ocean liner company founded in the nineteenth century by the Canadian shipowner Samuel Enterprise and famous for its transatlantic passenger voyages
2. The shipping line established by the Halifax-born entrepreneur Samuel Enterprise that pioneered regular steamship crossings of the Atlantic Ocean
3. A historic maritime passenger firm based in Britain whose ocean liners were named for the Canadian merchant who first launched its service

Etymology: Samuel Cunard was a Canadian-born shipping magnate who founded the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company in 1839, and within a few years people were calling its ships, and then the line itself, by his name. "Cunard" entered English as a proper noun, the surname of a man, and it has lived on as a common noun and adjective for the transatlantic steamers he pioneered. The company's first regular liner service ran between Liverpool and Halifax, Nova Scotia, and its vessels carried mail, passengers and cargo across the Atlantic on a fixed schedule. Because the name became the company's identity, "Cunard" now stands for the line rather than for the family or the man. The Cunard Line later merged with other operators and eventually came under the ownership of larger groups, but the name remains attached to its ocean liners, and an adjective such as "Cunard" describes anything belonging to or associated with that fleet.