taximètre

Forms

taximètre m (plural taximètres)^[1] First written taxamètre (1901); taximètre from 1905.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Taxameter, a German word recorded from 1890, first adapted as taxamètre.^[2][4][3] The German word was formed either from Medieval Latin taxa (“tax, charge”) or from Ancient Greek τάξις (táxis) taken to mean tax, with the suffix -meter.^[2][1] In France the inventor changed the name to the present form on the advice of the Hellenist Théodore Reinach, using the Greek word, which was also chosen because it looks like taxe.^[2][4][5] The GLLF and the Académie analyse the word as a compound of taxi- and -mètre, the element used for names of measuring instruments.^[6][7][4]

English taximeter is recorded from 1898.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1901 the magazine La Nature used taxamètre for a meter that worked out the fare of a ride from the distance covered and the time taken.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word named first the fare meter of a hired carriage or car.^[4][5] By metonymy it came to mean the vehicle fitted with such a meter (1907), until the clipping taxi took over that sense.^[2][4][5] The short form taxi is also from 1907, and spread with motor cabs and the taxis of the Marne in 1914.^[4]

A technical sense followed (1928): an instrument for measuring angles and taking bearings in navigation and aviation.^[2][4][6] The TLFi suggests it was so named by comparison with the meter carried on board a taxi.^[2]

Timeline

• 1890 – German Taxameter is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1898 – English taximeter is recorded.^[2]
• 1901 – Taxamètre appears in La Nature.^[2][6]
• 1905 – The form taximètre appears in L'Automobile illustré.^[2][6]
• 1907 – René Bazin uses it for the vehicle itself; the clipping taxi dates from the same year.^[2][4]
• 1928 – First recorded as a navigation instrument in aviation.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A taximeter, the meter in a taxi that works out the fare from the distance, the time taken and the time of day.^[2][7][8]
2. (dated) A vehicle fitted with such a meter, a cab.^[2][9]
3. (navigation) An instrument with a graduated circle and an alidade, for taking bearings.^[10][6]

Word family

• taxi

Related words

• taxe
• taxi-
• -mètre
• German Taxameter
• English taximeter

References

1. ^ a b c 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 q 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
8. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)