Hackney

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈhækni/

Definitions

1. A horse or carriage kept for hire, or to make something commonplace through overuse
2. A horse or vehicle available for public rental ; to cause something to lose originality or freshness by excessive repetition
3. An animal or carriage offered for paid use ; to render an idea or expression dull and unoriginal through frequent use

Etymology: Hackney was once a village in Middlesex, north of London, where the surrounding meadows were used to graze horses before they were sold. Its name came from Old English "Hacan īeġ," meaning "Haca's Island," which is an odd name for a place surrounded by land, though the marshy ground may have made it island-like. The horses raised there were small, sturdy animals, and the Middle English "hakeney" came to mean a small horse, often hired out. The word then travelled through Old French as "haquenée," an ambling mare favoured by ladies for gentle riding, which English Latinized as "hakeneius." The Middlesex horses kept their association with hire, and by extension a hackney became a carriage or cab available for anyone to rent. The figurative sense, to make something commonplace through overuse, grew directly from the noun. A hired horse or cab was ordinary, available to all, and wearing out through constant use, so the verb came to describe wearing down something's freshness through repetition.

Synonyms: cab, taxi, hack, taxicab, ride