Meaning

noun any of various kinds of wheeled vehicles drawn by an animal or a tractor

noun van used by police to transport prisoners

noun a group of seven bright stars in the constellation Ursa Major

originBorrowed from Middle Dutch wagen, from Old Dutch *wagan, from Proto-West Germanic *wagn, from Proto-Germanic *wagnaz (“wagon”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to transport”). Generally displaced native cognate wain, from Old English wæġn, of which it is a doublet. Related also to way, weigh. Sense 8 (“woman of loose morals; obnoxious woman”) is probably a derogatory and jocular reference to a…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0