cabotage

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UK, US/ˈkæbətɪd͡ʒ/UK, US/ˈkabətɑːʒ/

noun

The transport of goods or passengers between two points in the same country.

OriginFrench cabotage →
RareScrabble 13
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Meanings

nouncabotage (countable and uncountable, plural cabotages)

plural cabotages

  1. countableuncountableThe transport of goods or passengers between two points in the same country.

    Cabotage traffic may be carried by a foreign carrier on special permission of the civil aeronautics authorities […].

    1943, William Armistead Moale Burden, The Struggle for Airways in Latin America, page 51
  2. countableuncountablelawThe right to engage in such transport.

    Cabotage, used as a legal term, here refers to the right to transport goods or passengers between ports of a country.

    2002, Kevin Colin Ingram, Xingang Li, Maritime Law and Policy in China, page 19
  3. countableuncountableThe exclusive right of a country to control such transport.

    Professor Levine distinguishes two kinds of cabotage: "primary cabotage" which can be compared with ninth freedom cabotages and "long-haul limited cabotage" which can be compared with eighth freedom cabotage […].

    1992, Pablo Mendes de Leon, Cabotage in Air Transport Regulation, →OCLC, page 104

Origin

  1. Frenchcabotage“coasting trade”
  2. Englishcabotage

Borrowed from French cabotage (“coasting trade”), from caboter (“to travel by the coast”). It originally (16th c.) referred to restrictions allowing only French ships to trade or transport between French ports. Other countries adopted this concept and extended it to land and air travel.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan cabotatge
  • cabotatgetransport of goods or passengers in the same country
Danish cabotage, cabotage
  • cabotagetransport of goods or passengers in the same country
  • cabotagethe legal right
Dutch cabotage, cabotage
  • cabotagetransport of goods or passengers in the same country
  • cabotagethe legal right
Finnish kabotaasi, kabotaasi
  • kabotaasitransport of goods or passengers in the same country
  • kabotaasithe legal right
  • kabotaasioikeusthe legal right
German Kabotage, Kabotage
  • Kabotagetransport of goods or passengers in the same country
  • Kabotagethe legal right
Greek ακτοπλοΐα, ακτοπλοΐα
  • ακτοπλοΐα (aktoploḯa)transport of goods or passengers in the same country
  • ακτοπλοΐα (aktoploḯa)the legal right
Indonesian kabotase, kabotase
  • kabotasetransport of goods or passengers in the same country
  • kabotasethe legal right
Italian cabotaggio, cabotaggio
  • cabotaggiotransport of goods or passengers in the same country
  • cabotaggiothe legal right
Malay kabotaj, kabotaj
  • kabotajtransport of goods or passengers in the same country
  • kabotajthe legal right
Norwegian Bokmål kabotasje, kabotasje
  • kabotasjetransport of goods or passengers in the same country
  • kabotasjethe legal right
Portuguese cabotagem
  • cabotagemtransport of goods or passengers in the same country
Russian кабота́ж
  • кабота́ж (kabotáž)transport of goods or passengers in the same country
Spanish cabotaje, cabotaje
  • cabotajetransport of goods or passengers in the same country
  • cabotajethe legal right
Cite this entry
APA

cabotage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cabotage

MLA

“cabotage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cabotage. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cabotage,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cabotage.

Source: cabotage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.