A Junk Is a Ship, and Junk Was Once Old Rope
Junk is worthless material. A separate junk is a Chinese sailing vessel, and the two are unconnected.
Junk is discarded or worthless material; a junk is also a flat-bottomed Chinese sailing ship. The rubbish sense began at sea: *junk* was old rope, too worn for rigging, which crews picked apart to make oakum for caulking seams. Worn-out cordage became the word for anything worn out. The ship is a separate word, from Malay *jong*, and its battened sails could be reefed quickly by one person, a design Western rigs took centuries to match.
- Worthless material. *A pile of junk.*
- Old rope (nautical). *Junk.*
- A Chinese ship. *A sailing junk.*
- Junk food. *Junk food.*
- Malay — *jong*. *The ship.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | junk | Junk. |
| Plural | junks | Junks. |
| Verb | junk | Junked. |
| Compound | junkyard | A junkyard. |
| Malay | jong | A ship. |
- The garage is full of junk.Rubbish.
- A junk sailed into the bay.Ship.
- Junk was old rope.Etymology.
Why junk rigs were advanced
- Battens run the full width of each sail
- They let a sail be reefed quickly and partially
- One person can handle a large sail alone
- Watertight bulkheads divided the hull centuries before European ships
- The design changed little for a very long time because it worked
The rubbish sense is from nautical *junk*, old rope. The ship is from Malay *jong*, through Portuguese.
Why does junk mean rubbish?
From nautical use, where junk was old rope too worn for rigging. The word for worn-out cordage spread to anything worn out.
Is a Chinese junk the same word?
No. That comes from Malay jong and reached English through Portuguese traders.