taxi French · revision 16983

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing, clipping|attested=1905|origins=de Taxameter}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tak.si/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''taxi''' ''m'' (plural taxis)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a clipping (1907) of [[taximètre]] (1905),^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) which the inventor of the meter had first called [[taxamètre]] (1901), [[bor|de|Taxameter]] (1890).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The German word was formed either from [[la-med|taxa|t=tax, charge]] or from [[grc|τάξις|tr=táxis]] in the sense “tax”, with the suffix [[m|de|-meter]].^(TLFi) 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]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) English [[m|en|taximeter]] is recorded in 1898.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Esnault records it in 1905 for any kind of vehicle, a bicycle, an aeroplane, even a wheelbarrow;^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) the sense “car with a taximeter” is in the ''Larousse mensuel'' of 1907, in the article ''taxauto''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The TLFi corrects the date 1906 given by the Robert dictionaries for the sense “cab”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005) 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.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ By metonymy ''un taxi'' is the taxi driver (Giraudoux, 1922, Céline, 1932).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(BHVF) 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.^(DHLF 1992) In compounds such as [[taxiphone]] the element means “available to the public for a fee”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1890 – German ''Taxameter''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1901 – ''Taxamètre''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1905 – ''Taximètre''; slang ''taxi'' for any vehicle.^(TLFi)

+ * 1906 – ''Taxauto'' in the ''Larousse mensuel''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1907 – ''Taxi'' “motor cab”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1914 – The ''taxis de la Marne''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1922 – “Taxi driver”, in Giraudoux.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1925 – ''Avion-taxi''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1935 – Recorded by the Académie.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|taxi]], a cab with a meter that shows the fare: ''prendre un taxi'', ''chauffeur de taxi'', ''Hep taxi !''^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A taxi driver, ''faire le taxi'', to work as a taxi driver.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(by extension)'' A [[m|en|helicopter]] or plane used for transport.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(military)'' The carrying of troops.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Taxi-brousse'' ''(Africa)'': a [[m|en|bush taxi]], a shared vehicle.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[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]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}