Dockside

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The space next to a port where vessels arrive and depart is typically used for loading or unloading cargo
2. A location alongside a harbor or pier designated for the temporary mooring of ships and the transfer of freight
3. The area beside a dock where ships are moored for loading or unloading goods

Etymology: Dockside is a plain compound: "dock" with the suffix-like element "side," the latter meaning the edge or flank of something. The word is built directly from its two parts, so its interest lies in what each contributes. The "dock" element came into English from Middle Dutch "docke," a word for a pier or basin where ships could be enclosed, and the same Dutch root reaches back to a common Germanic stock. The "side" half has a much longer pedigree. It traces through Middle English "side" and Old English "sīde," meaning the flank or lateral surface of the body, to a Proto-Germanic root that also gave rise to the ordinary sense of a side of anything. Put together, "dockside" means the flank or edge of the dock, the stretch of quay where vessels tie up and cargo changes hands.

Synonyms: wharf, quay, pier, harbor, port