carriage

Etymology

From Middle English cariage, from Old Northern French cariage, from carier (“to carry”).

noun

1. The act of conveying; carrying.
   The remainder of the men were employed in unbarreling our Pork and stringing it on poles for convenience of carriage, and carrying our Batteaux from the river to the pond. 1867, Simeon Thayer, Edwin Martin Stone, The Invasion of Canada in 1775, page 6
2. Means of conveyance.
3. A (mostly four-wheeled) lighter vehicle chiefly designed to transport people, generally drawn by horse power.
   The carriage ride was very romantic.
4. (rail transport, Britain, Abbreviation of railway carriage) A railroad car
   When the long, hot journey drew to its end and the train slowed down for the last time, there was a stir in Jessamy’s carriage. People began to shake crumbs from their laps and tidy themselves up a little. 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, page 7
5. The manner or posture in which one holds or positions a body part, such as one's arm or head.
   The runner has a very low arm carriage.
6. (now rare) A manner of walking and moving in general; how one carries oneself, bearing, gait.
   Cavett: What would it take – seriously – for a musician to be good enough to play in the Miles Davis bands? Suppose you're looking for a new guy. Davis: Well, the first thing he needs do – whoever he is – has to have good carriage, you know. Cavett: Meaning? Davis: Meaning that they have to look like what they're going to play – the instrument. October 7 1986, Miles Davis, The Dick Cavett Show
   She [Maya Angelou] towered over everyone and exuded a power that I had not recognized in anyone other than my mother. It was in her height. It was in her carriage. It was in her voice. And, I said to myself, 'This is woman to be reckoned with.' 2009, Cicely Tyson, Leading Women: Maya Angelou, season 1, episode 5
   He chose to speak largely about Vietnam …, and his wonderfully sonorous voice was as enthralling to me as his very striking carriage and appearance. 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 90
7. (archaic) One's behaviour, or way of conducting oneself towards others.
   I had almoſt forgotten to acquaint your honor, that one major Alford (who was in mr. Love's conſpiracy) was of the graund inqueſt at Saliſbury, and was very zealous in his highneſſe ſervice here, and his good affection and wiſe carriage here, did much advantage the buſſineſe. 21 April 1655, “Mr. Ja. Nutley to ſecreary Thurloe.”, in A Collection of the State Papers of John Thurloe, Eſq;[…], volume III, London: […] the Executor of the late Mr. Fletcher Gyles; Thomas Woodward,[…] Charles Davis,[…], published 1742, page 399
   He now assumed a carriage to me so very different from what he had lately worn, and so nearly resembling his behaviour the first week of our marriage, that […] he might, possibly, have rekindled my fondness for him. 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 407
   Some people whisper but no doubt they lie, / For malice still imputes some private end, / That Inez had, ere Don Alfonso's marriage, / Forgot with him her very prudent carriage …. 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, section I
8. The part of a typewriter supporting the paper.
9. (US, New England) A shopping cart.
10. (Britain) A stroller; a baby carriage.
11. The charge made for conveying (especially in the phrases carriage forward, when the charge is to be paid by the receiver, and carriage paid).
12. (archaic) That which is carried, baggage