Vozy

Vozy (plural of vůz) is a Czech noun meaning vehicles or carriages. The singular vůz denotes any wheeled conveyance and is used for road vehicles as well as for railway rolling stock in technical contexts. In everyday language, vozy can refer to cars or wagons depending on context, but precise modern terms such as automobil or vozidlo are preferred for contemporary road transport, while vozy remains common in historical or rail terminology.

In railway terminology, vozy denote the individual cars that make up a train, excluding the locomotive. This includes osobní vozy (passenger cars), nákladní vozy (freight cars), and other specialized cars.

Historically, the word originated as a general term for wheeled conveyances and was used for horse-drawn carts and wagons. With industrialization and the development of railways, vozy became the standard term for railway rolling stock and for cataloging the components of trains. In contemporary Czech, vozy is used in technical contexts or historical references, whereas vozidla or automobily are used for motorized road transport.

Etymology: vozy derives from vůz, from a Proto-Slavic root meaning carriage or wagon, with cognates in other Slavic languages such as Polish wóz.