n.
- a ship or large boat.
- a hollow container used to hold liquid.
- Anatomy & Zoology a duct or canal conveying blood or other fluid.
▸Botany any of the tubular structures in the vascular system of a plant, serving to conduct water and nutrients from the root.
- (in or after biblical use) a person regarded as embodying a particular quality:
she was inherently the weaker vessel.
Etymology
ME: from Anglo-Norman Fr. vessel(e), from late L. vascellum, dimin. of vas ‘vessel’.