‖ fiacre
(fjakr)
[F. fiacre; it is said that the vehicles first so called belonged to an innkeeper (in 1648) who lived at the sign of St. Fiacre (De Broc Anc. Régime ii. 188).]
A small four-wheeled carriage for hire, a hackney-coach, a French cab.
| 1699 M. Lister Journ. Paris xii, They are most, even Fiacres or Hackneys, hung with Double Springs. 1741 tr. D'Argens' Chinese Lett. i. 5 This miserable Vehicle, which the French call a Fiacre (i.e. a Hackney-Coach). 1826 Longfellow in Life (1891) I. vii. 81 Cabriolets, fiacres, and carriages of all kinds. 1885 R. Buchanan Annan Water xxvii, Hailing a fiacre, he jumped in. |