Transport, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Transported; p. pr. & vb. n. Transporting.]
Etymology: [F. transporter, L. transportare; trans across + portare to carry. See Port bearing, demeanor.]
1. To carry or bear from one place to another; to remove; to convey; as, to transport goods; to transport troops. Hakluyt.
2. To carry, or cause to be carried, into banishment, as a criminal; to banish.
3. To carry away with vehement emotion, as joy, sorrow, complacency, anger, etc.; to ravish with pleasure or ecstasy; as, music transports the soul. [They] laugh as if transported with some fit Of passion. Milton. We shall then be transported with a nobler . . . wonder. South.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Transport, n.
1. Transportation; carriage; conveyance. The Romans . . . stipulated with the Carthaginians to furnish them with ships for transport and war. Arbuthnot.
2. A vessel employed for transporting, especially for carrying soldiers, warlike stores, or provisions, from one place to another, or to convey convicts to their destination; -- called also transport ship, transport vessel.
3. Vehement emotion; passion; ecstasy; rapture. With transport views the airy rule his own, And swells on an imaginary throne. Pope. Say not, in transports of despair, That all your hopes are fled. Doddridge.
4. A convict transported, or sentenced to exile.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for transport; he lists it under carry, convey, enthusiasm.
Where he writes about it:
Carry often signifies to transport by personal strength, without reference to the direction; as, that is more than he can carry; yet, even so, it would not be admissible to say carry it to me, or carry it here; in such case we must say bring. — from carry
Convey, transmit, and transport all imply delivery at a destination; as, I will convey the information to your friend; air conveys sound (to a listener); carry does not necessarily imply delivery, and often does not admit of it. — from convey
A man carries an appearance, conveys an impression, the appearance remaining his own, the impression being given to another; I will transmit the letter; transport the goods. — from convey
Transport usually refers to material, transfer, transmit, and convey may refer to immaterial objects; we transfer possession, transmit intelligence, convey ideas, but do not transport them. — from convey