What does vehicle mean?
A vehicle is any conveyance designed to carry people, goods, or materials, including cars, lorries, bicycles, ships, and aircraft. The word is more formal and more general than car, so it can refer to a wide range of transport rather than a road vehicle specifically. Vehicle also has an important figurative use: it denotes a means or medium through which information, ideas, emotions, or influence can be conveyed. In this sense, a newspaper may be called a vehicle for political commentary, while a particular artistic form can serve as a vehicle for an artist's ideas. The figurative meaning can sometimes imply that the medium is actively shaping or carrying a message. Although the everyday sense is common, vehicle is often preferred in formal, technical, legal, or administrative contexts, such as motor vehicle, commercial vehicle, and vehicle registration.
A means of transport, such as a car, aircraft, or boat, used to carry people, goods, or materials. Figuratively, a medium or channel through which something is conveyed or expressed.
"The city is encouraging the use of cleaner vehicles."
The word is formal and broad in its concrete sense. In figurative contexts, it may suggest a channel for communication, influence, or expression.
To convey, transmit, or express something by means of a vehicle or medium.
"The programme was designed to vehicle its message to a wider audience."
This verb use is rare and chiefly formal or literary, with the meaning largely confined to figurative contexts.
The standard plural adds -s and is used for individual conveyances as well as for transport or motor vehicles collectively.
"The car park was filled with vehicles."
The word for a cart became a word for almost every way of carrying people or goods.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does vehicle come from?
Vehicle entered English in the early 17th century through French véhicule, ultimately from the Latin vehiculum, a word for a cart or carriage. Latin vehiculum is a diminutive formation associated with vehere, meaning to carry, convey, or drive. Its meaning later broadened from a particular kind of conveyance to any means of transport, while figurative uses developed for a medium through which ideas or information are conveyed. The Latin source also produced cognates in French, Spanish, and other Romance languages.
Related word forms
How vehicle is actually used
In everyday use, vehicle is formal and more general than car. Its figurative uses can suggest a medium through which a message, influence, or ideology is transmitted, sometimes implying that the content shapes the medium.
Easily confused with vehicle
Vehicle is a noun naming a means of transport, whereas vehicular is an adjective meaning primarily relating to or consisting of vehicles.