vehicle

The word “vehicle” means a machine used to carry or transport people, goods, or objects, such as a car, truck, or bus. In plain terms, something that carries or transports — literally (a car, truck) or figuratively (a means to an end).

“Vehicle” is pronounced VEE-ih-kuhl (/ˈvi.ə.kəl/ in IPA).

Here is “vehicle” used in a sentence: “The company upgraded its entire fleet of delivery vehicles.”

Words with a similar meaning to “vehicle” include vahan and conveyance.

“Vehicle” is a noun.

The word “vehicle” comes from Latin. Borrowed from French véhicule, from Latin vehiculum ("carriage"), from vehere ("to carry") — the same root that gives us "vector.".

“Vehicle” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Vehicle” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a machine used to carry or transport people, goods, or objects, such as a car, truck, or bus.

Vehicles are usually grouped by where they travel: road vehicles like cars, buses, trucks, and motorcycles; rail vehicles such as trains and trams; watercraft like boats and ships; and aircraft including planes and helicopters. They can also be split by power source, from petrol and diesel to electric.

A car is just one kind of vehicle. Vehicle is the broad umbrella term for any machine that transports people or goods, covering trucks, buses, motorcycles, trains, and boats as well. So every car is a vehicle, but a vehicle is not necessarily a car.

Common examples include a family car, a delivery van, a city bus, a lorry, and a motorcycle. More broadly, trains, boats, and aeroplanes are vehicles too, since each is a machine built to carry people or cargo from one place to another.