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🚀 To start something 🛳️ To board
to embark

to embark

18 4.4
To get on a ship, plane, or other vehicle to begin a journey
  • verb
  • /ɪmˈbɑrk/
translation icon : embarcarse
  • The next year she embarked on a trip to Europe and the Soviet Union.
  • embarked on ships

So you have to call in and get your landing site or your dock that you depart and embark from approved.

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Examples

  • Fry and Morgan embarked together on a buying tour of Italy.

    Academic text (2016)

  • We are about to embark on our first first class Emirates flight.

  • Before I embark on that long journey across the sea.

    Blonde (2022)

  • And we shall embark from these steps here.

    Sideshow (2000)

  • So today we embark for our crazy private island resort, but of course we need to get there by a boat.

    Brett Conti

  • From which port do they propose to embark?

    Spartacus (1960)

  • And now we will ride full tilt for Dover, and there embark for France.

    Time Bandits (1981)

  • In 1211, three hundred European rabbis, mostly from England and France, embarked for the Holy Land.

    Academic text (2013)

  • Also, substantial numbers of emigrants from Eastern Europe embarked on ships bound for America from Genoa.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Before we embark on our journey, we need to check the weather forecast.

Synonyms

to get on
vsto embark
468 1.0

Board a train, bus, or plane

can also mean beginning a longer journey or enterprise, not just boarding
to board
vsto embark
238 1.1

To get onto a vehicle like a train or plane

also covers the act of starting a journey or undertaking beyond boarding
to embark on
vsto embark
95 4.2

To start a new project, activity or journey that is often big and difficult

also means physically going aboard vehicles as well as starting ventures
to set sail
vsto embark
25 2.9

To start a journey by boat or ship

is more general, applying to starting journeys by any means or undertaking projects
to set forth
vsto embark
3 3.9

To begin a journey to a place

is narrower in travel departure while key also includes boarding and starting enterprises
to enplane
vsto embark
  • Specialized
8.3

To get onto a plane before a flight

has a broader use covering any vehicle boarding and starting journeys or enterprises

Antonyms

to disembark
21 5.1

To leave a ship, plane, or other vehicle after a journey

Phrasal Verbs

to embark on
95 4.2

To start a new project, activity or journey that is often big and difficult

How Formal

to embark
18 4.4
to depart
176 1.3
to board
238 1.1
to set off
57 2.4
to get on
37 1.0

Surface Forms

embark infinitive
embarked past
embarked past participle
embarking present participle
embarks third person singular

Morphology

embark = bark (semi-transparent) = em + bark

The literal sense is historically em- + 'bark' (ship), but 'bark' as 'ship' is relatively rare/archaic for learners, so the composition is not fully transparent.

Etymology

Embark comes from an old French word made from em- 'in/on' and barque 'boat', so it originally meant 'to get on a ship'. That's why to embark still means to go on board a ship, plane, or other vehicle and begin a journey.