Tonnage (noun)

1. The total weight of cargo, passengers, fuel, and crew that a ship is able to carry.
2. The total weight of goods, etc. transported by a ship, truck, or train during a given period.
3. A tax or duty on ships based on their tonnage.

Origin:

From middle english tonnage, from old english tunnage ("measurement of a ship by the number of tuns it can carry"), from tun ("cask, barrel") + -age, from the practice of measuring a ship"s cargo capacity in terms of the number of tuns of wine it could carry.

Examples:

1. The tonnage of the ship was measured in order to determine how much cargo it could carry.
2. The tonnage of goods shipped increased significantly over the past year.
3. The ship's tonnage was measured in order to calculate the tax to be paid.
4. The company pays tonnage tax based on the weight of goods transported.
5. The tonnage of the cargo was too much for the ship to handle.