tank

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun an enclosed armored military vehicle; has a cannon and moves on caterpillar treads
  2. noun a large (usually metallic) vessel for holding gases or liquids
  3. noun as much as a tank will hold

Etymology

From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), from an Indo-Aryan language, likely Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī, “cistern”) or Marathi टांकी (ṭāṅkī). Compare the Arabic verb اِسْتَنْقَعَ (istanqaʕa, “to become stagnant, to stagnate”). First attested in the 1610s. * In the sense of armoured vehicle, prototypes were described as tanks for carrying water to disguise their nature and due to physical resemblance. First attested in 1915, but in common usage only as of 1916. Displaced landship, and mostly displaced battlewagon.

In classic literature

Synonyms

army tank, armored combat vehicle, armoured combat vehicle

A single word — an entire dictionary opens.

Type a word, a sentence, a book title, or a link to an English article. WordNet and the Classics answer.

Try

A library of classics · a vault of words · instant etymology & meaning

Continue reading