Scipian

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. To place passengers, soldiers or cargo on board a vessel so that they can be carried by sea
2. To load people or goods onto a ship in preparation for a voyage across water
3. Putting men or freight aboard a ship, especially for transport over the sea

Etymology: Old English "scipian" was a verb, not an adjective. It meant to put someone or something on board a vessel, to embark, or to load goods for transport. It was built on "scip," the Old English word for a boat or ship, which also meant a vessel of any kind, not only a large sea-going one. The noun has close relatives across the Germanic languages, such as Dutch "schip" and German "Schiff." The verb is the ancestor of modern "ship," which is used both for sending goods by any means and for loading a vessel. Because the noun and verb came from the same Germanic root, English kept the sense of "shipping" as a transport action long before it became a commercial term for a shipping business.

Synonyms: scipionic