Etymologically
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chauffeur

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʃɒˈfɜː/, /ˈʃəʊfə/ (UK); /ʃoʊˈfɝ/, /ˈʃoʊfɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French chauffeur (“stoker”),[2][3][4][5] from French chauffer (“to heat”),[2][3][5] from Old French chaufer (“to heat, warm”).[3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A motorist (1896–1899).[5][6][4]

Semantic evolution

In French chauffeur was the stoker of a steam engine, and it became a nickname for early motorists, since the first cars were steam-driven.[5][4] The sense “a paid driver of a private car” appears in 1902,[5][6] and the verb followed, dated 1902 by Etymonline and 1917 by the OED and Merriam-Webster.[5][6][3] In early 20th-century Britain shover was a joking anglicized form.[5]

Timeline

  • 1896 – a motorist (Etymonline); 1899 in the OED and Merriam-Webster.[5][6][3]
  • 1902 – a professional driver of a private car.[6][5]
  • 1903 – chauffeuse, a female chauffeur.[6]
  • 1917 – verb, to drive a car or a person as a chauffeur.[6][3][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person employed to drive a private or hired car.

Verb

  1. To work as a driver for someone.
  2. To transport someone by car.
  • chafe
  • chafing dish

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ 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