tonnage

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: ton=nage

CIDE DICTIONARY

tonnage, n. [From Ton a measure.].

•  The weight of goods carried in a boat or a ship.  [1913 Webster]
•  The cubical content or burden of a vessel, or vessels, in tons; or, the amount of weight which one or several vessels may carry. See Ton, n. (b).  [1913 Webster]

  "A fleet . . . with an aggregate tonnage of 60,000 seemed sufficient to conquer the world."  [1913 Webster]
•  A duty or impost on vessels, estimated per ton, or, a duty, toll, or rate payable on goods per ton transported on canals.  [1913 Webster]
•  The whole amount of shipping estimated by tons; as, the tonnage of the United States. See Ton.  [1913 Webster]

  " There are in common use the following terms relating to tonnage: (a) Displacement. (b) Register tonnage, gross and net. (c) Freight tonnage. (d) Builders' measurement. (e) Yacht measurement. The first is mainly used for war vessels, where the total weight is likely to be nearly constant. The second is the most important, being that used for commercial purposes. The third and fourth are different rules for ascertaining the actual burden-carrying power of a vessel, and the fifth is for the proper classification of pleasure craft. Gross tonnage expresses the total cubical interior of a vessel; net tonnage, the cubical space actually available for freight-carrying purposes. Rules for ascertaining these measurements are established by law."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

tonnage, n.
1 a ship's internal cubic capacity or freight-carrying capacity measured in tons.
2 the total carrying capacity esp. of a country's mercantile marine.
3 a charge per ton on freight or cargo.

Etymology

orig. in sense 'duty on a tun of wine': OF tonnage f. tonne TUN: later f. TON(1)

THESAURUS

tonnage

accommodation, argosy, avoirdupois, beef, beefiness, bottoms, burden, capacity, carriage, cartage, content, cordage, deadweight, drayage, expressage, fatness, fleet, flotilla, freight, freightage, gravity, gross weight, haulage, heaviness, heft, heftiness, limit, line, liveweight, measure, merchant fleet, merchant navy, navy, neat weight, net, net weight, overbalance, overweight, ponderability, ponderosity, ponderousness, poundage, quantity, room, shipping, ships, space, stowage, underweight, volume, weight, weightiness, whaling fleet

ROGET THESAURUS

tonnage

Size

N size, magnitude, dimension, bulk, volume, largeness, greatness, expanse, amplitude, mass, proportions, capacity, tonnage, tunnage, cordage, caliber, scantling, turgidity, corpulence, obesity, plumpness, embonpoint, corporation, flesh and blood, lustihood, hugeness, enormity, immensity, monstrosity, giant, Brobdingnagian, Antaeus, Goliath, Gog and Magog, Gargantua, monster, mammoth, Cyclops, cachalot, whale, porpoise, behemoth, leviathan, elephant, hippopotamus, colossus, tun, cord, lump, bulk, block, loaf, mass, swad, clod, nugget, bushel, thumper, whooper, spanker, strapper, Triton among the minnows, mountain, mound, heap, largest portion, full size, life size, large, big, great, considerable, bulky, voluminous, ample, massive, massy, capacious, comprehensive, spacious, mighty, towering, fine, magnificent, corpulent, stout, fat, obese, plump, squab, full, lusty, strapping, bouncing, portly, burly, well-fed, full-grown, corn fed, gram fed, stalwart, brawny, fleshy, goodly, in good case, in good condition, in condition, chopping, jolly, chub faced, chubby faced, lubberly, hulky, unwieldy, lumpish, gaunt, spanking, whacking, whopping, walloping, thumping, thundering, hulking, overgrown, puffy, huge, immense, enormous, mighty, vast, vasty, amplitudinous, stupendous, monster, monstrous, humongous, monumental, elephantine, jumbo, mammoth, gigantic, gigantean, giant, giant like, titanic, prodigious, colossal, Cyclopean, Brobdingnagian, Bunyanesque, Herculean, Gargantuan, infinite, large as life, plump as a dumpling, plump as a partridge, fat as a pig, fat as a quail, fat as butter, fat as brawn, fat as bacon, immeasurable, unfathomable, unplumbed, inconceivable, unimaginable, unheard-of, of cosmic proportions, of epic proportions, the mother of all, teh granddaddy of all.