What was an early taxi called?

Hansom cabs were patented in 1834 by York architect Joseph Hansom. They were two-wheeled carriages drawn by horses and were much lighter and faster than the Hackney carriages. They were also cheaper to ride in. The Hansom cab soon spread to Berlin, Paris, St Petersburg, and New York City.



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In 1897, Gottlieb Daimler built the world's first dedicated gasoline-powered taxi vehicle. Equipped with a taximeter, it was called the Daimler Victoria and was delivered to German entrepreneur Friedrich Greiner. He founded the world's first motorised taxi company in Stuttgart.

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You can also refer to a taxi as a cab or a taxicab.

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The Original London Taxis. Taxis in the city of London were initially called hackneys. The word itself came from “hacquenee” a Norman French word, which was used to mean a horse could be hired. In fact, the term is still there today, most people, especially the older generation, always call the taxis hackney cabs.

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A cab is a taxi.

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The term cab derives from the cabriolet, a two-wheeled, one-horse carriage often let out for hire. The development of modern taxicabs closely parallels that of automobiles. The first motorized taxicabs were electric-powered vehicles that began appearing on the streets of European and American cities in the late 1890s.

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The taxis of 1914 were Renault AG1 Landaulets. They could seat five men per vehicle, but averaged a speed of only about 20-25 miles per hour.

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An early electric hansom taxicab on a New York City street, circa 1900. The Electric Carriage and Wagon Company, the first taxicab company in New York City, began operating 12 electric hansom cabs in July 1897—a time when city traffic was overwhelmingly of the horse-drawn variety.

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borrowed from Greek táxis arrangement, disposition, order — more at taxis.

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The term gypsy cabs once referred to illegal taxis. These days the term usually refers to any driver who is licensed and works for one of the hundreds of legal car service companies in the city.

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Most of the English speaking countries use both words while the non-English speaking ones use taxi almost exclusively, or a regional derivative.

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The word taxi, coming from the meter that calculates the fare (taximeter ), and cab from cabriolet , which originally was a covered horse drawn carriage. In some countries it's known as a taxi, and in others it's a cab. Most English speaking countries will know it as either or both.

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On this page you'll find 7 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to taxi driver, such as: cabbie, cabby, cab driver, cabman, hack, and hackman.

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