taximeter
(ˈtæksɪmiːtə(r), formerly tækˈsɪmɪtə(r))
Also 9 taxameter.
[ad. F. taximètre, f. taxe tariff + -mètre = -meter. The form taxameter, used a few years earlier, was from German: cf. med.L. taxa tax. (An earlier German name from c 1875 was taxanom.)]
a. An automatic contrivance fitted on a cab or other vehicle to indicate to the passenger at any point the distance traversed and the fare due. Also ellipt. for taximeter cab (rare).
The earliest forms of this indicator were simply distance-recorders, but it was soon made to comprise an automatic fare-reckoner and index.
| α [1890 German Patent Spec. 56310 Taxameter-Fabrik Westendorp & Pieper in Hamburg.] 1894 Times 2 June 19/1, I have severally interviewed the proprietors of the ‘taxameter’, owners of cabs at Hamburg, and several of their employés. 1898 Daily Chron. 21 Mar., An illustration and description of the taxameter has been sent us. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 30 Apr. 7/3 Each vehicle will be provided with a taxameter—the little instrument for registering distance which has found such favour in Paris and Berlin. |
| β 1898 Daily News 14 Apr. 7/2 One of the new Berlin taximeters, attached to a London hansom cab, on which it has been in operation for the past six months in an experimental way, was shown [etc.]. 1907 Ibid. 4 Feb. 7/5 The Committee's report..declared strongly in favour of the taximeter as a means of regulating fares. 1908 Whitaker's Almanack 434/1 The fare payable for the hiring of a Motor Hackney Carriage fitted with a Taximeter shall be..(a) Not exceeding one mile, or..ten minutes..8d. 1908 A. Bennett Buried Alive iv. 102 He then hailed a taximeter from the stand opposite the Army and Navy Stores. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 22 June 7/3 A taxi-meter was tried on horse-cabs in London over half-a-century ago. |
b. attrib. and
Comb., as
taximeter cab,
taximeter-cabriolet,
taximeter-driver,
taximeter hansom,
taximeter-maker,
taximeter scale,
taximeter system,
taximeter vehicle.
| α 1899 Westm. Gaz. 23 Mar. 8/1 A report..from our Consul-General at Berlin on the subject of taxameter cabs in that city, and its nature should bid our Taxameter Syndicate, Limited, be of good cheer despite recent rebuffs. 1903 Daily Chron. 16 Nov. 4/5 Some years ago there was an attempt to introduce the taxameter system, which is the rule in all big German towns. The London cabman would have none of it. 1906 Ibid. 20 Feb. 4/1 A few minutes later a taxameter motor brougham drove up with the bride. |
| β 1907 Daily News 18 Mar. 9 By the end of this week London may expect that about sixty taximeter motor cabs will be plying for hire in the streets. 1907 Daily Chron. 23 Sept. 3/4 A horse cab driver..was charged with assaulting [a] taximeter cab driver. 1959 P. Bull I know the Face, But{ddd} xi. 200 Lambert kindly escorted me in a taximeter-cabriolet. |
Hence
taximetered a. (also
taxiˈmetric a.), provided with a taximeter.
| 1907 Daily Chron. 18 Mar. 4/7 The competition of the *taximetered motor-cab will entitle the poor old four-wheeler more than ever to the name of ‘growler’. 1908 Even. Standard 1 Feb. 1/3 Seventeen taximetered hansoms took the London streets to-day. |
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 15 Mar. 2/3, I have just returned from Paris, where most cabs are now ‘*taxametric’. |