Main Entry: ves·sel

Pronunciation: \ˈve-səl\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin vascellum, diminutive of Latin vas vase, vessel

Date: 14th century

1 a : a container (as a cask, bottle, kettle, cup, or bowl) for holding something b : a person into whom some quality (as grace) is infused <a child of light, a true vessel of the Lord — H. J. Laski>
2 : a watercraft bigger than a rowboat; especially : ship 1
3 a : a tube or canal (as an artery) in which a body fluid is contained and conveyed or circulated b : a conducting tube in the xylem of a vascular plant formed by the fusion and loss of end walls of a series of cells