Other forms: tankers
A tanker is a vehicle or ship built to carry liquid in bulk. An oil tanker, a milk tanker, a tanker lorry.
The largest oil tankers carry about two million barrels and take several miles to stop. Milk tankers collect from farms daily. An air tanker refuels aircraft in flight or drops water on fires. Note tanker versus tank, which is the container itself; and that a tanker spill is the standard phrase for an environmental disaster, of which there have been about nine major ones.
1nountankerA vehicle or ship built to carry liquid in bulk.
“The tanker carries about two million barrels and stops in four miles.”
tanker is a liquid-carrying vehicle.
Portuguese
tanque
English
tank
English, today
tanker
Built from
From tank + -er. tank Borrowed from Portuguese tanque. From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), from an inc language, likely gu ટાંકી (“cistern”) or mr टांकी. A false friend can be found in gmq: dunk (“canister, keg”), 17th c. tönk, which appears derived from both tunneke, tonneke, and dunka (“to dunk, to dip under water, to moisten”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA