Dictionary

convey en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /kənˈveɪ/

Etymology

From Middle English conveien, from Old French conveier (French convoyer), from Vulgar Latin *convio, from Classical Latin via (“way”). Compare convoy.

Meanings

1. To move (something) from one place to another.
   • The normal methods of road delivery are by driving the cars individually, or by car transporters which convey as many as eight vehicles on massive articulated double-deck trailers. 1960 June, “British cars go by rail: I-The L.M.R wins new Anglo-Scottish traffic”, in Trains Illustrated, page 335:
   • The Fallopian Tubes, or oviducts, convey the ova from the ovaries to the cavity of the uterus. 1858, Henry Gray, Female Organs of Generation, London: John W. Parker & Son, page 688:
   • […] I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there […] 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Kings 5:8-9:
   • Air conveys sound. Water is conveyed through the pipe.
2. (dated) To take or carry (someone) from one place to another.
   • It began to rain, not much, but enough to make shelter desirable for women, and quite enough to make it very desirable for Miss Elliot to have the advantage of being conveyed home in Lady Dalrymple’s carriage, which was seen waiting at a little distance […] 1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:
   • Convey me to my bed, then to my grave: Love they to live that love and honour have. 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene 1]:
   • […] the false Tyrant seiz’d the Princely Maid, And to a Lodge in distant Woods convey’d; 1717, Samuel Croxall, transl., Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books, Translated by the Most Eminent Hands, London: Jacob Tonson, Book the Sixth, p. 200:
3. To communicate; to make known; to portray.
   • To her son these words conveyed an extraordinary joy, as if it were settled the expedition were bound to take place, and the wonder to which he had looked forward, for years and years it seemed, was, after a night’s darkness and a day’s sail, within touch. 1927 May, Virginia Woolf, chapter 1, in To the Lighthouse (Uniform Edition of the Works of Virginia Woolf), new edition, London: Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, […], published 1930, →OCLC, part I (The Window), page 11:
   • This excellent Method of conveying a Falshood with the Heart only, without making the Tongue guilty of an Untruth, by the Means of Equivocation and Imposture, hath quieted the Conscience of many a notable Deceiver […] 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 6, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VII, page 27:
   • to convey an impression; to convey information
   • I am afraid I cannot convey the peculiar sensations of time travelling. 1895 May 29, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter 3, in The Time Machine: An Invention, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC:
   • To make Words serviceable to the end of Communication is necessary […] that they excite, in the Hearer, exactly the same Idea they stand for, in the Mind of the Speaker: Without this, Men fill one another’s Heads with noise and sounds; but convey not thereby their Thoughts, and lay not before one another their Ideas, which is the end of Discourse and Language. 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 9, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book III, page 232:
   • Notably, the flutterer made the gesture while facing her mate, not the birdhouse—which indicates she wasn’t merely pointing to the nest’s location, but rather conveying a message 2024, Anna Gibbs, “‘After you!’ A female bird’s flutter conveys a polite message to her mate”, in Science:
4. To transfer legal rights (to).
   • […] before his breaking forth into open rebellion, [the Earle of Desmond] had conveyed secretly all his lands to feoffees of trust, in hope to have cut off her Maiestie from the escheate of his lands. 1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:
   • The refrigerator, washer, and dryer do not convey unless it's specifically laid out in the contract.
   • He conveyed ownership of the company to his daughter.
5. (obsolete) To manage with privacy; to carry out.
   • 1557, uncredited translator, A Mery Dialogue by Erasmus, London: Antony Kytson, I shall so conuey my matters, that he shall dysclose all together hym selfe, what busynesse is betwene you […]
   • I will seek him, sir, presently; convey the business as I shall find means, and acquaint you withal. c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
6. (obsolete) To carry or take away secretly; to steal; to thieve.
   • Suppose you are good at the lift, who be more cunning then we women, in that we are more trusted, for they little suspect vs, and we haue as close conueyance as you men, though you haue Cloakes, we haue skirts of gownes, handbaskets, the crownes of our hattes, our plackardes, and for a need, false bagges vnder our smockes, wherein we can conuey more closely then you. 1592, Robert Greene, A Disputation betweene a Hee Conny-Catcher and a Shee Conny-Catcher, London: T. Gubbin:

Forms

Deriveds

conveyance · conveyability · conveyable · unconveyable · conveyal · conveyor · misconvey · reconvey · preconvey · unconveyed · conveyer · conveyee

Relateds

convoy

Synonyms

express (to communicate a message) · accompany (to take someone from one place to another) · carry (to move something from one place to another) · impart (to communicate a message) · transport (to move something from one place to another) · send (to communicate a message) · relay (to communicate a message) · conduct (to take someone from one place to another) · escort (to take someone from one place to another) · port (to move something from one place to another)

Translations (143)

bg прена́сям (to carry) · pl przewozić (to carry) · ga iompair (to communicate) · hu átruház (to transfer legal rights) · it condurre (to move (something) from one place to another) · he העביר (to carry) · fo flyta (to move (something) from one place to another) · uk передава́ти (to communicate) · de verfrachten (to move (something) from one place to another) · cs přepravit (to carry) · pt expressar (to communicate) · ru перевози́ть (to carry) · bg превозвам (to carry) · no overføre (to transfer legal rights) · ga cuir in iúl (to communicate) · pl przekazywać (to communicate) · fi kuljettaa (to move (something) from one place to another) · he העביר (to transfer legal rights) · pl przenosić (to transfer legal rights) · ja 運搬する (to carry) · tr devretmek (to transfer legal rights) · tr aktarmak (to carry) · be абве́зці (to carry) · pt comunicar (to communicate) · es transladar (to carry) · fr véhiculer (to communicate) · sv överlåta (to transfer legal rights) · fo avhenda rætt til (to transfer legal rights) · de ausrichten (to communicate) · pt transmitir (to communicate) · scn purtari (to carry) · es efundir (to communicate) · scn trasfiriri (to transfer legal rights) · pt transportar (to carry) · fi välittää (to transfer legal rights) · fi ilmaista (to communicate) · pt enviar (to move (something) from one place to another) · cmn 輸送 /输送 (to carry) · ro transfera (to transfer legal rights) · scn mòviri (to move (something) from one place to another) · hu szállít (to carry) · pl przewieźć (to carry) · ja 移譲する (to transfer legal rights) · nl overbrengen (to communicate) · uk переда́ти (to communicate) · ar نَقَلَ (to carry) · cs převést (to transfer legal rights) · la vectō (to move (something) from one place to another) · th ถ่ายทอด (to move (something) from one place to another) · sv förmedla (to communicate) · th ถ่ายทอด (to communicate) · ru переноси́ть (to carry) · hu kifejez (to communicate) · pl scedować (to transfer legal rights) · de übermitteln (to communicate) · ga tíolaic (to transfer legal rights) · fr communiquer (to communicate) · ka გადაყვანა (to carry) · pl przenieść (to transfer legal rights) · de befördern (to carry) · fi luovuttaa (to transfer legal rights) · de transportieren (to move (something) from one place to another) · hi व्यक्त करना (to communicate) · de übertragen (to transfer legal rights) · fi välittää (to carry) · ja 伝達する (to communicate) · bg предавам (to communicate) · pl przenosić (to move (something) from one place to another) · sa वहति (to carry) · gl transportar (to carry) · mi whakawhiti (to carry) · cy cyfleu (to communicate) · scn cumunicari (to communicate) · ga iompair (to carry) · sk prepraviť (to carry) · ja 伝える (to communicate) · be абво́зіць (to carry) · th ลำเลียง (to move (something) from one place to another) · fi siirtää (to transfer legal rights) · ro transporta (to carry) · es enunciar (to communicate) · sv transportera (to carry) · ja 譲渡する (to transfer legal rights) · cs sdělit (to communicate) · it trasportare (to move (something) from one place to another) · ro căra (to carry) · uk доно́сити (to communicate) · ar أَبْلَغَ (to communicate) · fr transporter (to carry) · it comunicare (to communicate) · scn cèdiri (to transfer legal rights) · hu közöl (to communicate) · grc κομίζω (to carry) · he הוביל (to carry) · es expremir (to communicate) · fi välittää (to move (something) from one place to another) · cs dopravit (to carry) · cmn 表達 /表达 (to communicate) · it trasportare (to carry) · ru донести́ (to communicate) · fi kuljettaa (to carry) · eo komuniki (to communicate) · pt transferir (to transfer legal rights) · nl overdragen (to carry) · sk previesť (to transfer legal rights) · cmn 傳送 /传送 (to communicate) · cmn 傳遞 /传递 (to communicate) · pt transportar (to move (something) from one place to another) · ja 伝播する (to communicate) · ja 運ぶ (to carry) · es trasladar (to carry) · ru передава́ть правово́й ти́тул (to transfer legal rights) · cmn 傳遞 /传递 (to carry) · it trasferire (to transfer legal rights) · bg нося (to carry) · fi kantaa (to move (something) from one place to another) · no formidle (to communicate) · he מסר (to communicate) · ru транспорти́ровать (to carry) · bg прехвърлям (to transfer legal rights) · scn spustari (to move (something) from one place to another) · bg ме́стя (to move (something) from one place to another) · fo føra (to move (something) from one place to another) · ar نَقَلَ (to communicate) · ro transmite (to communicate) · sk dopraviť (to carry) · de befördern (to move (something) from one place to another) · scn traspurtari (to carry) · sk komunikovať (to communicate) · eo transdoni (to move (something) from one place to another) · hi हस्तांतरण (to transfer legal rights) · cmn 傳達 /传达 (to communicate) · ru передава́ть (to communicate) · pl przekazać (to communicate) · it esprimere (to communicate) · uk донести́ (to communicate) · ka გადატანა (to carry) · tr iletmek (to communicate) · ru перевезти́ (to carry) · ru переда́ть (to communicate) · ru перенести́ (to carry) · nl overdragen (to transfer legal rights) · th โอน (to transfer legal rights)