Cabman

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A driver whose profession is to transport passengers in a hired vehicle commonly known as a taxi
2. An individual whose work consists of providing transportation services to clients in a cab for pay
3. A person who operates a taxi to carry passengers for hire

Etymology: The "cab" in "cabman" is itself a clipping. It comes from "cabriolet", a light two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse, which took its name from French "cabriole", a leap, the image being of the vehicle bouncing along. English shortened the French word to "cab" for the hired carriages that followed it, so the driver's name is simply a shortened vehicle with a person attached. "Cabman" is a plain compound: "cab" plus "-man", the old English word for a person, which goes back through Middle English to Old English "mann". The pattern is the same as in "coachman" or "boatman", so the word needs no special story. Its meaning followed the vehicle, so when the hired motor taxi replaced the horse-drawn hansom and four-wheeler, the older word stayed on, covering drivers of both.

Synonyms: taxi driver, chauffeur