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Origin and history of barge

barge(n.)

early 14c., "seagoing vessel of moderate size with sails," from Old French barge "boat, ship," Old Provençal barca, from Medieval Latin barga, perhaps from Celtic, or perhaps from Latin *barica, from Greek baris "Egyptian boat," from Coptic bari "small boat."

From late 14c. as "river craft; barge used on state occasions; raft for ferrying;" the meaning "flat-bottomed freight boat" dates from late 15c. In former times also "a magnificently adorned, elegant boat of state," for royalty, magistrates, etc. (1580s).

barge(v.)

"to journey by barge," 1590s, from barge (n.). The form barge into and the sense of "crash heavily into," in reference to the rough handling of barges, are attested by 1898. Related: Barged; barging.

also from 1590s

Entries linking to barge

bargeman(n.)

"man employed on a barge," mid-15c., from barge (n.) + man (n.).

bark(n.2)

"any small vessel or ship," early 15c., from French barque "boat" (15c.), from Late Latin barca, which is probably cognate with Vulgar Latin *barica (see barge (n.)). The more precise sense of "three-masted ship fore-and-aft rigged on the mizzenmast" (17c.) often is spelled barque to distinguish it.

Paris

capital of France, from Gallo-Latin Lutetia Parisorum (in Late Latin also Parisii), name of a fortified town of the Gaulish tribe of the Parisii, who had a capital there; literally "Parisian swamps" (see Lutetian).

The tribal name is of unknown origin, but it is traditionally derived from a Celtic par "boat" (perhaps related to Greek baris; see barge (n.)), hence the ship on the city's coat of arms.

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    talam "plain, sole of the foot;" Greek telia "dice board;" Latvian telint "to spread out;" Lithuanian tils "bottom of a barge...
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    acre
    Old English æcer "tilled field, open land," from Proto-Germanic *akraz "field, pasture" (source also of Old Norse akr, Old Saxon akkar, Old Frisian ekker, Middle Dutch acker, Dutch akker, Old High German achar, German acker, Gothic akrs "field"), from PIE root *agro- "field." "[O
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    Old English caru, cearu "sorrow, anxiety, grief," also "burdens of mind; serious mental attention," in late Old English also "concern, anxiety caused by apprehension of evil or the weight of many burdens," from Proto-Germanic *karō "lament; grief, care" (source also of Old Saxon
    acer
    maple tree genus name, from Latin acer, a word of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE *ak- "be sharp" (see acro-) and so called for its pointed leaves. There seem to have been two roots for "maple" in Indo-European; cognates of this one are said to include Old High German ahorn "m
    rush
    mid-14c. (implied in rushing), "to drive back or down," from Anglo-French russher, from Old French ruser "to dodge, repel," which is from Latin recusare "make an objection against; decline, refuse, reject; be reluctant to" (see recuse; also compare ruse). The meaning "do somethin
    ship
    Middle English ship, "seagoing vessel," especially a large one, from Old English scip "ship, boat, vessel of considerable size adapted to navigation," from Proto-Germanic *skipa- (source also of Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Gothic skip, Danish skib, Swedish skepp, Middle Du
    speed
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