▪ I. † ˈculvert, a. Obs.
Also 4 culvart, -vard; and see colward.
[a. OF. culvert, colvert, late L. collībertus fellow-freedman, in Middle Ages a serf, villain, one whose condition was intermediate between slavery and freedom, but nearer the former; hence, adj. abject, wretched, villainous, vile, infamous, etc.]
Infamous, villainous, treacherous.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 96 No wouhleche nis so culuert ase is o pleinte wis. a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 329 Þe porter is culuert and felun. c 1325 Chron. Eng. 788 in Ritson Met. Rom. II. 303 The King hede a stiward, That was fel ant culvard. |
▪ II. culvert, n.
(ˈkʌlvət)
[A recent word of obscure origin.
It has been conjectured to be a corruption of F. couloir, in Cotgr. also coulouëre, ‘a channel, gutter, or any such hollow, along which melted things are to run’, f. couler to flow. But points of connexion between the Fr. and Eng. words, in form and sense, are wanting. On the other hand some think ‘culvert’ an Eng. dialect word, taken into technical use at the epoch of canal-making. No connexion with covert has been traced.]
A channel, conduit, or tunneled drain of masonry or brick-work conveying a stream of water across beneath a canal, railway embankment, or road; also applied to an arched or barrel-shaped drain or sewer.
Used from c 1770 in connexion with canal construction; thence extended to railways, highways, town-drainage, etc. In connexion with railways and highways, it is sometimes disputed whether a particular structure is a ‘culvert’ or a ‘bridge’. The essential purpose of a bridge, however, is to carry a road at a desired height over a river and its channel, a chasm, or the like; that of a culvert to afford a passage for a small crossing stream under the embankment of a railway or highway, or beneath a road where the configuration of the surface does not require a bridge. Locally, the term ‘culvert’ is often limited to a barrel drain, bricks shaped for which are known as culvert-bricks. See Notes & Queries, 8th Ser. III. 248, 377.
| 1773 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 97, 40 locks, 114 cart-bridges, 9 foot-bridges, and 120 culverts or aqueducts, including those magnificent ones over the rivers Dove and Trent. 1785 Dudley & Birm. Canal Act (25 Geo. III, c. 87 §6), The said Company..shall..make and support good and sufficient Culverts and Aqueducts to convey the same [streams]..in the several and respective courses in which they have hitherto run. 1788 Deritend Bridge Act (28 Geo. III, c. 70 §7), To cause a Culvert to be made of the diameter of six feet at the least. 1801 Croydon Canal Act (41 Geo. III, c. 127 §95). 1804 Rees Cycl. s.v. Canal, The construction of culverts or drains under a canal, for conveying away water from the upper to the lower side of a canal. 1837 F. Whishaw Anal. Railways 271 Culvert, a large drain either of brick or stone used in railways for passing brooks and streams under the embankments. 1840 ― Railways Gt. Brit. 426 The largest culvert carries the Claxton brook under the embankment. |
b. Applied to an underground channel in which electric cables or mains are laid; also called a conduit.
| 1889 Daily News 12 Oct. 6/1 Mr. Crompton's culverts are..narrow and shallow tunnels lined with brick work. The St. James's Company's cast-iron troughs may be fairly described as portable culverts. They..are an impregnable protection for the copper cables inside them. 1893 Electr. Engineer 12 May vii, Systems of copper strip laid in culverts. |
Hence ˈculvert v., to provide or lay with culverts.
| 1889 Daily News 12 Oct. 6/1 The culverting of Clubland [for electric lighting] has been an exceptionally difficult operation. 1890 Boldrewood Colonial Reformer I. 121 The streets were aligned, metalled, and culverted. |