convoy

C3O1N1V4O1Y4
UK/ˈkɒn.vɔɪ/

noun

One or more merchant ships sailing in company to the same general destination under the protection of naval vessels.

“A frigate convoys a merchantman.”

OriginOld French convoier ← Vulgar Latin *convio ← Latin con- →
Less commonScrabble 14
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Meanings

convoy1

nounconvoy (plural convoys)

plural convoys

  1. nauticalOne or more merchant ships sailing in company to the same general destination under the protection of naval vessels.
  2. A group of vehicles travelling together for safety, especially one with an escort.

    'Cause we got a great big convoy Rockin' through the night. Yeah, we got a great big convoy Ain't she a beautiful sight? Come on and join our convoy Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way. We gonna roll this truckin' convoy 'Cross the USA.

    1975, “Convoy”, in C.W. McCall, Chip Davis (lyrics), Black Bear Road, performed by C. W. McCall
  3. The act of convoying; protection.
verbconvoy (third-person singular simple present convoys, present participle convoying, simple past and past participle convoyed)

present singular third person convoys · participle present convoying · participle past convoyed · past convoyed

  1. transitiveTo escort a group of vehicles, and provide protection.

    A frigate convoys a merchantman.

    1 more example

    I know ye skilful to convoy / The total freight of hope and joy / Into rude and homely nooks, / Shed mocking lustres on shelf of books, […]

    1867, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “May-Day”, in May-Day and Other Pieces, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 23
  2. intransitiveTo travel under convoy.

Convoy2

proper noun
  1. A village in County Donegal, Ireland (Irish grid ref C 2101).
  2. A village in Tully Township, Van Wert County, Ohio, United States, named after the Irish village.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
caravan

Origin

  1. Latincon-“together”
  2. Vulgar Latin*convio
  3. Old Frenchconvoier
  4. Englishconvoy

From Middle English, from Old French convoier, another form of conveier, from Vulgar Latin *convio (compare Medieval Latin convio (“to accompany on the way”)), from Latin con- (“together”) + via (“way”).

More words from Old French, Vulgar Latin, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic قَافِلَة
  • قَافِلَة (qāfila)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Bulgarian конво́й, конво́й
  • конво́й (konvój)merchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • конво́й (konvój)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • съпровожда́м (săprovoždám)to escort a group of vehicles
  • конвои́рам (konvoíram)to escort a group of vehicles
Catalan comboi, comboi
  • comboimerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • comboigroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Chinese Mandarin 船團 /船团, 車隊 /车队
  • 船團 /船团 (chuántuán)merchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • 車隊 /车队 (chēduì)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • 護航 /护航 (hùháng)to escort a group of vehicles
Czech konvoj, konvoj
  • konvojmerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • konvojgroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Danish konvoj, konvoj
  • konvojmerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • konvojgroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Dutch konvooi
  • konvooigroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Finnish saattue, saattue
  • saattuemerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • saattuegroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • autosaattuegroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
French convoi, convoi
  • convoimerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • convoigroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • convoyerto escort a group of vehicles
German Konvoi, Geleitzug
  • Konvoimerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • Geleitzugmerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • Konvoigroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • Geleitzuggroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • eskortierento escort a group of vehicles
  • geleitento escort a group of vehicles
Greek νηοπομπή, κονβόι
  • νηοπομπή (niopompí)merchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • κονβόι (konvói)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Hungarian konvoj
  • konvojgroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Icelandic bílalest
  • bílalestgroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Indonesian iring-iringan, konvoi
  • iring-iringangroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • konvoigroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Irish tionlacan, conbhua
  • tionlacanmerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • conbhuamerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • conbhuagroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • tionlaicto escort a group of vehicles
Italian convoglio, convoglio
  • convogliomerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • convogliogroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Japanese 船団, 車列
  • 船団 (sendan)merchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • 車列 (sharetsu)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Māori tāruru, tāruru
  • tārurumerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • tārurugroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Norwegian Bokmål konvoi
  • konvoimerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
Polish konwój, konwój
  • konwójmerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • konwójgroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Portuguese comboio, comboio
  • comboiomerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • comboiogroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • comboiarto escort a group of vehicles
Romanian convoi, convoi
  • convoimerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • convoigroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Russian конво́й, конво́й
  • конво́й (konvój)merchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • конво́й (konvój)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • эско́рт (eskórt)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • автоколо́нна (avtokolónna)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • корте́ж (kortɛ́ž)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • сопровожда́ть (soprovoždátʹ)to escort a group of vehicles
  • сопроводи́ть (soprovodítʹ)to escort a group of vehicles
  • конвои́ровать (konvoírovatʹ)to escort a group of vehicles
Slovak konvoj
  • konvojgroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Spanish convoy, caravana
  • convoymerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • caravanagroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • convoygroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • convoyarto escort a group of vehicles
Swedish konvoj, konvoj
  • konvojmerchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels
  • konvojgroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Tagalog dalulong
  • dalulonggroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Turkish konvoy, katar
  • konvoygroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • katargroup of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Ukrainian конво́й, корте́ж
  • конво́й (konvój)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • корте́ж (kortéž)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • автоколо́на (avtokolóna)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
  • еско́рт (eskórt)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort
Urdu قافِلَہ
  • قافِلَہ (qāfila)group of vehicles traveling together for safety, especially one with an escort

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with convoy

enjoyjoyroyoetroyemployalloydeployoiHanoioyannoyChoikoisavoyhoypoibuoycoyfoyFitzroyployJOISavoie
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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