Other forms: embarked, embarking, embarks
To embark is to board a ship, or to begin a grand undertaking. Embark on a journey, embark for France, passengers embarking.
The literal sense is nautical and is still used at ports and on tickets. The figurative sense always takes on and always involves something long or serious: embark on a career, embark on a course of treatment. Note disembark, which is getting off; and that the word contains barque, a small ship, so to embark is literally to get into the boat.
1verbembarkTo board a ship.
“Passengers began to embark at noon, and the ferry sailed an hour later.”
2verbbeginTo begin a long or serious undertaking.
“After university, she embarked on a career in medicine.”
embark is a boarding or beginning.
Middle French embarquer is en- plus barque, a small ship. Barque came through Latin from Greek baris, an Egyptian boat, so the word has travelled about as far as the ships did.
Middle French
embarquer
English, today
embark
Built from
Borrowed from Middle French embarquer, from en- + barque (“small ship”). Compare with Portuguese embarcar, Spanish abarcar.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA