Gitney

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small privately operated bus or car that carries passengers along a set route for a low fare ; slang for a five-cent coin, the nickel
2. An unlicensed or informal minibus that picks up riders cheaply along a route ; a nickel, meaning a coin worth five cents
3. A cheap shared vehicle, often a small bus or car, that carries passengers for a modest fare ; American slang for a five-cent piece

Etymology: Jitney was American slang for a nickel, the five-cent coin, long before it named anything you rode in. Passengers paid a nickel for a cheap, informal ride, so the coin's nickname came to name the ride itself. The sense of a small, privately run bus or car that carries passengers along a fixed route for a low fare grew out of that payment. "Gitney" appears to be a spelling variant of this same word, probably reflecting a hard "g" sound for the "j." The exact origin of the nickel slang is uncertain, and I have not found a firm explanation for why the coin was called a jitney in the first place.