Pullman

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A comfortable railway carriage with berths or fine seating for travellers ; a square loaf of bread baked in a lidded tin so it rises straight up
2. A luxurious train car fitted with beds or plush seats for passengers ; a rectangular loaf baked in a closed tin, giving a fine-textured, flat-topped slice
3. An upscale carriage on a railway providing sleeping berths or comfortable seating ; a tin-baked bread loaf with a square shape and soft, even crumb

Etymology: George Pullman, an American engineer and industrialist who died in 1897, made his name building sleeping cars for long-distance trains. His Pullman Palace Car Company produced carriages fitted with berths, upholstered seats and polished woodwork, and the company's name became so closely tied to its product that people began calling any such carriage a "Pullman car." Over time the longer phrase was clipped to the single word, so a "pullman" came to mean the luxury railway carriage itself rather than the firm or the man. The word therefore carries a surname as its root, a rare case in which a businessman's name became a common noun for his product. Its use spread through the railway era, and the sense has stayed attached to the vehicles themselves: a surviving 1928 Pullman coach, the Virginia City, is still operated today for private charter and hire.

Synonyms: sleeper, sleeping car