water carrier

noun

A person who carries water from a spring or well, especially in antiquity and pre-modern era when it was a common job.

Meanings

water carrier1

nounwater carrier (plural water carriers)

plural water carriers · alternative water-carrier

  1. historicalusuallyA person who carries water from a spring or well, especially in antiquity and pre-modern era when it was a common job.
  2. An arrangement of wires on which a bucket of water, raised from a well, etc., may be conveyed wherever required, as to a house.
  3. A pipe or tube that conveys water.
  4. A transportation ship that is water-based.
  5. astrologyAquarius, or a symbol for it.

    With the ascent of the Sumerian civilization, in which, we have seen, the figure of Aquarius as the "Water-carrier" was already accepted as a current symbol, the Ibex by no means disappeared.

    1965, Willy Hartner, “The Earliest History of the Constellations in the near East and the Motif of the Lion-Bull Combat”, in Journal of Near Eastern Studies, volume 24, number 1/2, page 11, column 1
  6. colloquialfigurativelyA person doing simple, ordinary work, usually in opposition to somebody considered more valuable.
  7. cyclingA domestique.

Water Carrier2

proper nounthe Water Carrier
  1. astrologyThe constellation and zodiacal sign Aquarius.

    No racketting around and cocktail parties for those born under the influence of the Water-carrier and the Archer.

    1947 November 14, Mountain District Free Press and Frentree Gully News, Tecoma, Vic., page 8, column 2
    1 more example

    Strange, too, how the old pagan names for the constellations—the Ram, the Bull, the Twins (Castor and Pollux), the Crab, the Lion, the Virgin, the Scales, the Scorpion, the Archer, the Horned Goat, the Water-carrier, and the Fishes, have persisted all these thousands of years in spite of attempts made by philosophers of the Christian and other faiths to give them more prosaic or more religious names.

    1926 November 21, “How old is the zodiac?”, in The Woodend Star, Victoria, page 4, column 6

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

  1. LatinAquarius
  2. EnglishWater Carrier

Calque of Latin Aquarius. Compare Afrikaans Waterdraer

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian водоносец, водоносец
  • водоносец (vodonosec)individual doing simple, ordinary work
  • водоносец (vodonosec)person
Finnish vesijohto, vesitankkeri
  • vesijohtopipe or tube
  • vesitankkeriship
  • duunariindividual doing simple, ordinary work
  • vedenkantajaperson
Greek υδραγωγός
  • υδραγωγός (ydragogós)pipe or tube
Latin aquārius, utrārius
  • aquāriusperson
  • utrāriusperson
Romanian sacagiu
  • sacagiuperson
Turkish saka, sucu
  • sakaperson
  • sucuperson
Cite this entry
APA

water carrier. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/water%20carrier

MLA

“water carrier.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/water%20carrier. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “water carrier,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/water%20carrier.

Source: water carrier on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.