Etymologically
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taxi

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /tak.si/[1]

Forms

taxi m (plural taxis)[1]

Etymology

It is a clipping (1907) of taximètre (1905),[2][3][1] which the inventor of the meter had first called taxamètre (1901), borrowed from German Taxameter (1890).[2][3] The German word was formed either from Medieval Latin taxa (“tax, charge”) or from Ancient Greek τάξις (táxis) in the sense “tax”, with the suffix -meter.[2] At the suggestion of the Hellenist Théodore Reinach the French form was corrected to the present one, with the Greek word, chosen also for its likeness to taxe.[2][3][4] English taximeter is recorded in 1898.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Esnault records it in 1905 for any kind of vehicle, a bicycle, an aeroplane, even a wheelbarrow;[2][5] the sense “car with a taximeter” is in the Larousse mensuel of 1907, in the article taxauto.[2]

Semantic evolution

The TLFi corrects the date 1906 given by the Robert dictionaries for the sense “cab”.[2][6] The short form, which competed for a time with taxauto (1906), soon became usual with the spread of motor cabs and the famous taxis de la Marne of 1914, the Paris taxis requisitioned by Gallieni to carry troops to the front.[3][5]

By metonymy un taxi is the taxi driver (Giraudoux, 1922, Céline, 1932).[2][5][7] Familiar forms are taxoche and tac (about 1950), and compounds include taxi-auto (1923), avion-taxi (about 1925) and vélo-taxi, fashionable during the petrol shortages of 1941–1944.[3] In compounds such as taxiphone the element means “available to the public for a fee”.[2]

Timeline

  • 1890 – German Taxameter.[2]
  • 1901 – Taxamètre.[2]
  • 1905 – Taximètre; slang taxi for any vehicle.[2]
  • 1906 – Taxauto in the Larousse mensuel.[3]
  • 1907 – Taxi “motor cab”.[2]
  • 1914 – The taxis de la Marne.[3]
  • 1922 – “Taxi driver”, in Giraudoux.[2]
  • c. 1925 – Avion-taxi.[3]
  • 1935 – Recorded by the Académie.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A taxi, a cab with a meter that shows the fare: prendre un taxi, chauffeur de taxi, Hep taxi ![8][1]
  2. (familiar) A taxi driver, faire le taxi, to work as a taxi driver.[1][5][3]
  3. (by extension) A helicopter or plane used for transport.[1][3]
  4. (military) The carrying of troops.[1]
  5. Taxi-brousse (Africa): a bush taxi, a shared vehicle.[8]
  • taximètre
  • taxe

Usage notes

A separate familiar noun taxi (about 1950), a person or firm supplying false invoices, is an alteration of taxeur, from taxe.[6][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert