hackney

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (1)  · 
I ordered our carriage to move on, and I engaged what you call a hackney coach.

View all »
Definitions (22)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. noun A horse of a breed developed in England, having a gait characterized by pronounced flexion of the knee.
  2. noun A trotting horse suited for routine riding or driving; a hack.
  3. noun A coach or carriage for hire.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (10)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • After dinner to church again So home and with Sir W. Pen took a hackney, and he and I to Old Street, to a brew-house there, to see Sir Thomas Teddiman, who is very ill in bed of a fever, got, I believe, by the fright the Parliament have put him into, of late. —  Diary of Samuel Pepys, May 1668
  • To that end I called a hackney-coach, not greatly caring, I confess it, to be seen in broad daylight in London streets with such an astonishing pair of guys as poor old Ruffiano and his friend The count was at home, and, receiving us at once, heard the story with an excitement equal to that of the narrator. —  In Direst Peril
  • They complied with his request, and then the Major desired Timothy to call a hackney-coach. —  Japhet, in Search of a Father
  • I recollected myself, and calling a hackney-coach, gave orders to be driven to the Piazza, Covent Garden Piazza, Common Garden," said the waterman, "why that ban't an 'otel for the like o' you, master. —  Japhet, in Search of a Father
  • I was not content to let him go: But presently we called a hackney-coach, and myself and him, and major Tasker went, and carried that money to Mr Tryon. —  State Trials, Political and Social Volume 1 (of 2)
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 109 times.

On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English hakenei, probably after Hakenei, Hackney, a borough of London, England, where such horses were raised.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Now often abbreviation hack (see hack); from Middle English hakeney, hakkeney, haknay, hakenay, from Anglo-French hakenai, hakeney, Old French haquenee, hacquenee, hacquenet, and hacquenart, French haquenée (nearly obsolete) = Spanish Portuguese hacanea, Portuguese also acanea, Old Spanish OPg. facanea = Italian acchinea, now abbreviation chinea (Middle Latin hakeneius, hakenetus), cf. Middle Dutch hackeneye, Dutch hakkenei, an ambling horse. Cf. Old French haque (also diminutive haquet) = Spanish haca, Old Spanish OPg. faca, a nag, possibly abbreviation from the preceding longer forms (cf. English hack, abbr from hackney); but the origin and connections of the words are obscure. The Roman forms suggest a Teutonic origin, and may come (through Old French) from Middle Dutch The Middle Dutch hackeneye is explained by Gesner (in Kilian) from Middle Dutch hacken, hakken, chop, the alternate lifting and dropping of the horse's feet in ambling, with the accompanying sound, being compared to the alternating movement of a pair of choppingknives in chopping cabbage or the like. Skeat, overlooking this explanation, suggests the same hakken in a possible sense ‘jolt.’ The termination -neye is not clear.
  2. from hackney, n.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »

/ˈhækni/
by American Heritage

Charts

frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word several times a year.

Recently looked up

downcast · echelon · bachelor · peddler · quirt

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

Der dicke Dachdecker deckte dir dein Dach, drum dank dem dicken Dachdecker, dass der dicke Dachdecker dir dein Dach deckte. · weitläufig · und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, so leben sie noch heute · redescheu · selbstverständlich