soute

Soute is a French noun that denotes the interior storage space of a vessel or aircraft used for carrying cargo or luggage. In maritime contexts, the soute refers to the holds below the deck where goods are stowed during transport. The term is commonly encountered in nautical vocabulary and appears in phrases such as soute à bagages (the luggage compartment) or soute à charbon (a coal hold).

In aviation, la soute designates the aircraft’s cargo hold or baggage compartment. Depending on the aircraft design, these compartments can be located in different sections of the fuselage and may be accessed from the exterior or through dedicated doors for loading and unloading. The concept covers both passenger luggage and freight aboard commercial and cargo aircraft.

The word is primarily used in French-language technical and industry literature, and is not widely used in English. In English, the equivalent terms are hold or cargo hold, with baggage compartment as a common designation for the luggage space in passenger aircraft. When translating or discussing international documentation, soute is typically rendered as hold or baggage hold.

Notes on usage: soute tends to be context-specific to ships or airplanes and may appear in manuals, specifications, or official languages of transport industries. It can also appear in general French-language descriptions of transport equipment, sometimes extending to other enclosed storage spaces in vehicles.

See also: hold (nautical), baggage compartment, cargo hold.