Generally, packet trade is any regularly scheduled cargo, passenger and mail trade conducted by boat or ship.[1] The boats or ships are called "packet boats or packet ships" as their original function was to carry mail.[2]
A "packet ship" was originally a vessel employed to carry post office mail packets to and from British embassies, colonies and outposts. In sea transport, a packet service is a regular, scheduled service, carrying freight and passengers. The ships used for this service are called packet ships or packet boats. The seamen are called packetmen, and the business is called packet trade.
"Packet" can mean a small parcel but, originally meant a parcel of important correspondence or valuable items, for urgent delivery.[3] The French-language term "paquebot” derives from the English term "packet boat," but means a large ocean liner.
This sense became extended to mean any regularly scheduled ship, carrying passengers, as in packet trade. The word "packet" is frequently modified by the destination, e.g. Sydney packet, or by motive force, e.g. "steam packet".
- ^ Cape Verde Packet Trade Archived 1997-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ your-dictionary.com: packet boat
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary - Packet: "A small pack, package, or parcel. In later use freq.: the container or wrapping in which goods are sold; packaging; a bag or envelope for packing something in. Also: the contents of a packet. In early use chiefly used of a parcel of letters or dispatches, esp. the state parcel or mail in which letters to and from foreign countries were carried."