Online Etymology Dictionary

cart: c.1200, from O.N. kartr, akin to O.E. cræt "chariot," perhaps orig. "body of a cart made of wickerwork, hamper;" related to O.E. cradol (see cradle). The verb meaning "to carry in a cart" is from c.1440.
cartwheel: late 14c., "wheel of a cart." Meaning "lateral somersault" is recorded from 1864; as a verb, from 1920.
cartage: 1428, from cart.
go-cart: 1676, originally "a litter, sedan chair;" also "an infant's walker" (1689), from go + cart. The modern form go-kart (1959) was coined in reference to a kind of miniature racing car with a frame body and a two-stoke engine.
surrey: "two-seated, four-wheeled pleasure carriage," 1895, from Surrey cart, an English pleasure cart (introduced in U.S. 1872), named for Surrey, England, where it was first made. The place name is O.E. suþrige (722), lit. "Southerly District" (relative to Middlesex).
tumbrel: c.1440, "two-wheeled cart," earlier an instrument of punishment of uncertain type (1223), from O.Fr. tumberel "dump cart," from tomber "(let) fall or tumble," possibly from a Gmc. source (cf. O.N. tumba "to tumble," O.H.G. tumon "to turn, reel;" see tumble). Notoriously used to take victims to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror.
bin: O.E. binne "basket, manger, crib," from Gaulish, from O.Celt. *benna, akin to Welsh benn "a cart," especially one with a woven wicker body. The same Celtic word seems to be preserved in It. benna "dung cart," Fr. benne "grape-gatherer's creel," Du. benne "large basket," from L.L. benna. Some linguists think there was a Germanic form parallel to the Celtic one.
shop (n.): c.1300, perhaps from O.E. scoppa "booth or shed for trade or work" (rare), related to scypen "cowshed," from P.Gmc. *skoppan "small additional structure" (cf. O.H.G. scopf "building without walls, porch," Ger. dial. Scopf "porch, cart-shed, barn," Ger. Schuppen "a shed"), from base *skupp-. But it's likely that the M.E. word was acquired from O.Fr. eschoppe "booth, stall," which is a Gmc. loan-word from the same root. Meaning "schoolroom equipped for teaching vocational arts" is from 1914, Amer.Eng. Sense of "matters pertaining to one's trade" is from 1814 (as in to talk shop, 1860). Shopping cart is recorded from 1956; shopping list first attested 1913; transf. and fig. use is from 1959.
truck (n.): "vehicle," 1611, "small wheel" (especially one on which the carriages of a ship's guns were mounted), probably from L. trochus "iron hoop," from Gk. trokhos "wheel," from trekhein "to run" (see truckle (n.)). Sense extended to "cart for carrying heavy loads" (1774), then to "motor vehicle for carrying heavy loads" (1930), a shortened form of motor truck (1916). The verb, meaning "to convey on a truck," is recorded from 1809, from the noun. Verbal meaning "dance, move in a cool way," first attested 1935, from popular dance of that name in U.S., supposedly introduced at Cotton Club, 1933. Trucker is first attested 1853, "worker who moves loads using a cart;" the motorized version is from 1955, a shortening of truck driver (pre-1931). Truck stop is attested from 1961.
wagon: 1523, from M.Du. wagen, waghen, from P.Gmc. *wagnaz (cf. O.E. wægn, Mod.Eng. wain, O.S., O.H.G. wagan, O.N. vagn, O.Fris. wein, Ger. Wagen), from PIE *woghnos, from *wegh- "to carry, to move" (cf. Skt. vahanam "vessel, ship," Gk. okhos, L. vehiculum, O.C.S. vozu "carriage, chariot," Rus. povozka, Lith. vazis "a small sledge," O.Ir. fen, Welsh gwain "carriage, cart;" see weigh). In Du. and Ger., the general word for "a wheel vehicle;" Eng. use is a result of contact through Flemish immigration, Dutch trade, or the Continental wars. It has largely displaced the native cognate, wain. Spelling preference varied randomly between -g- and -gg- from mid-18c., before Amer.Eng. settled on the etymological wagon, while waggon remained common in Great Britain. Wagon train is attested from 1810. Phrase on the wagon "abstaining from alcohol" is 1904, originally on the water cart.
trolley: 1823, in Suffolk dialect, "a cart," especially one with wheels flanged for running on a track (1858), probably from troll (v.) in the sense of "to roll." Sense transferred to "pulley to convey current to a streetcar motor" (1890), then "streetcar drawing power by a trolley" (1891).
dray: mid-14c., M.E. derivative of O.E. dragan "to draw," originally meaning a cart without wheels that has to be "dragged" (cf. O.N. draga "timber dragged behind a horse"); see drag.
buckboard: 1839, "plank on wheels," from board (n.) + buck "body of a cart or wagon" (1690s), perhaps a dial. survival of O.E. buc "belly, body, trunk." As a type of vehicle constructed this way, from 1874.
charette: c.1400, from O.Fr. charrette "wagon, cart" (12c.), dim. of charre (see car).
caravan: 1588, from M.Fr. caravane, from O.Fr. carouan, picked up in the Crusades from Pers. karwan "group of desert travelers." Used in Eng. for "vehicle" 17c., esp. for a covered cart. In modern British use, often a rough equivalent of the U.S. mobile home.
carriage: 1388, "act of carrying, means of conveyance," from Anglo-Fr. cariage "cart, carriage," from carier "to carry" (see carry). Specific sense of "horse-drawn, wheeled vehicle for hauling people" first attested 1706.
costermonger: 1510s, "itinerant apple-seller" from coster (see costard) + monger. Sense extended from "apple-seller" to any salesman who plied his wares from a street-cart. Contemptuous use is from Shakespeare ("2 Henry IV"), but reason is unclear.
preposterous: c.1540, from L. præposterus "absurd, contrary to nature," lit. "before-behind" (cf. topsy-turvy, cart before the horse), from præ "before" + posterus "subsequent."
limber (adj.): 1565, of uncertain origin, possibly from limb on notion of supple boughs of a tree, or from limp "flaccid," or somehow from M.E. lymer "shaft of a cart" (see limber (n.)).
hawk (v.): 1542 (hawker is attested from 1510), from M.L.G. höken "to peddle, carry on the back, squat," from P.Gmc. *khuk-. Despite the etymological connection with stooping under a burden on one's back, a hawker is technically distinguished from a peddler by use of a horse and cart or a van.
cargo: 1657, from Sp. cargo "burden," from cargar "to load, impose taxes," from L.L. carricare "to load on a cart" (see charge). South Pacific cargo cult is from 1949.
carpenter: early 14c. (attested from 1121 as a surname), from O.N.Fr. carpentier (O.Fr. charpentier), from L.L. (artifex) carpentarius "wagon (maker)," from L. carpentum "two-wheeled carriage, cart," from Gaul., from O.Celt. *carpentom (cf. O.Ir. carpat, Gael. carbad "carriage"), probably related to Gaul. karros (see car). Replaced O.E. treowwyrhta. First record of carpenter bee is from 1844.
tether (n.): late 14c., "rope for fastening an animal," probably from O.N. tjoðr "tether," from P.Gmc. *teudran (cf. Dan. tøir, Swed. tjuder, O.Fris. tiader, M.Du. tuder, Du. tuier "line, rope," O.H.G. zeotar "pole of a cart"), from PIE base *deu- "to fasten" + instrumentive suffix *-tro-. Figurative sense of "measure of one's limitations" is attested from 1570s. The verb is first recorded late 15c., from the noun.
bus: 1832, abbreviation of omnibus (q.v.). The English word is simply a Latin dative plural ending. The verb meaning "transport students to integrate schools" is first recorded 1961. Verb meaning "clear tables in a restaurant" is first attested 1913, probably from the four-wheeled cart used to carry dishes. Related: Bused; busing. To miss the bus, in the figurative sense, is from 1915. Busman's holiday "leisure time spent doing what one does for a living" (1893) is probably a reference to London bus drivers riding the buses on their days off.
current (adj.): c.1300, from O.Fr. corant "running," prp. of corre "to run," from L. currere "to run," from PIE *kers- "to run" (cf. Gk. -khouros "running," Lith. karsiu "go quickly," O.N. horskr "swift," O.Ir., M.Welsh carr "cart, wagon," Bret. karr "chariot," Welsh carrog "torrent"). The noun is c.1380, from M.Fr. corant, from O.Fr. corant. Applied 1747 to the flow of electrical force. Currently "at the present time" is 1580.
vehicle: 1612, "a medium through which a drug or medicine is administered," 1615 in the sense of "any means of conveying or transmitting," from Fr. véhicule, from L. vehiculum "means of transport, a vehicle," from vehere "to carry," from PIE *wegh- "to go, transport in a vehicle" (cf. O.E. wegan "to carry;" O.N. vegr, O.H.G. weg "way;" M.Du. wagen "wagon;" see wagon). Sense of "cart or other conveyance" first recorded 1656.
charge: early 13c., from O.Fr. chargier "load, burden," from L.L. carricare "to load a wagon, cart," from L. carrus "wagon" (see car). Meaning "responsibility, burden" is mid-14c. (cf. take charge, late 14c.; in charge, 1510s), which progressed to "pecuniary burden, cost" (mid-15c.), and then to "price demanded for service or goods" (1510s). Legal sense of "accusation" is late 15c.; earlier "injunction, order" (late 14c.). Sense of "rush in to attack" is 1560s, perhaps through earlier meaning of "load a weapon" (1540s). Electrical sense is from 1767. Slang meaning "thrill, kick" (Amer.Eng.) is from 1951. Chargé d'affairs was borrowed from French, 1767.
Charles's Wain: O.E. Carles wægn, associated with Charlemagne, originally with the nearby bright star Arcturus (see also Arctic), which is linked by folk etymology to L. Arturus "Arthur." The crux of this is the legendary association of Arthur and Charlemagne. More recent names for it are the Plough (1590s) and the Big Dipper (19c.). Known as a bear across a wide range of cultures. Some old stories specify that the "bowl" of the dipper is the bear, while the three stars of the "handle" are either hunters or its cubs. To the ancients, it was both a bear (Gk. arktos) and a wagon (Gk. amaxa, L. plaustrum "two-wheeled cart"). Among the Teutonic peoples, however, there does not seem to have been a tradition to see this group as a bear, only a wagon. A 10c. Anglo-Saxon astronomy manual uses the Greek-derived Aretos, but mentions that the "unlearned" call it "Charles's Wain":
Arheton hatte an tungol on norð dæle, se haefð seofon steorran, & is for ði oþrum naman ge-hatan septemtrio, þone hatað læwede meon carles-wæn." ["Anglo-Saxon Manual of Astronomy"]
The unlearned of today are corrected that the seven stars are not the Great Bear, but only a part of that large constellation. But those who applied the name "Great Bear" apparently did so originally only to these seven stars, and from Homer's time down to Thales, "the Bear" meant just the seven stars. From Rome to Anglo-Saxon England to Arabia to India, ancient astronomy texts mention a supposed duplicate constellation to the northern bear in the Southern Hemisphere, never visible from the north. This perhaps is based on sailors' tales of the Southern Cross.