cab

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kæb/^[1]

Etymology

It is a London shortening of cabriolet, a light covered horse-drawn carriage (1763),^[2][3][4] borrowed from French cabriolet, a diminutive of cabriole (“a leap, caper”), earlier capriole, from Italian capriola (“a caper, leap”),^[3] ultimately from Latin caper (“goat”).^[5] The carriage was named for its bouncing motion.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A light two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage: 1826, in Disraeli, in Barnhart and Etymonline;^[2][3] 1824 in Merriam-Webster.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Cab was used for a cabman from 1827,^[7] and for a shelter for the driver of a locomotive from 1864.^[7] The verb, to go by cab (also to cab it), is from 1835.^[7][6] Today it chiefly means a taxi, and also the driver's compartment of a truck or machine.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 1763 – cabriolet.^[2][3]
• 1824 – cab.^[6]
• 1826 – a light carriage.^[2][3]
• 1827 – a cabman.^[7]
• 1835 – to cab (verb).^[7][6]
• 1864 – a locomotive driver's shelter.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A taxi; a taxicab.
2. The enclosed compartment of a truck, locomotive, crane or similar machine, from which it is driven or operated.
3. (historical) A one-horse vehicle for public hire.
4. first cab off the rank (Australia, informal): the first person to do or take advantage of something.

Verb

1. To travel in a cab.

Word family

• cabby
• cabman
• cabstand
• minicab
• cabbie
• cabdriver
• taxicab
• pedicab

Related words

• cabriolet
• caper
• taxi

Usage notes

Cab, an ancient Hebrew dry measure (1535), is a separate word, from Hebrew.^[7][6][8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins