喜樂美語

核心畫面

Picture a small covered box on wheels that you climb into and someone else drives: in 1826 that box was pulled by a horse and you paid the driver to take you across London. Two things live in that picture — a ride you hire, and a little compartment somebody sits in. Modern 'cab' can be thought of as those two halves going their own way: the horse became an engine, and the compartment stayed a compartment.

可以想成一個裝在輪子上的小車廂：你鑽進去坐好，由別人駕駛。1826 年的倫敦，那個車廂前面拉著一匹馬，你付錢請車夫載…更多收起可以想成一個裝在輪子上的小車廂：你鑽進去坐好，由別人駕駛。1826 年的倫敦，那個車廂前面拉著一匹馬，你付錢請車夫載你穿過城市。這個畫面裡其實有兩樣東西——一段花錢請人載的路程，和一個有人坐在裡面的小隔間。今天的 cab 可以想成是這兩半各走各的：馬換成了引擎，而隔間就一直是隔間。

From the word’s history

'Cab' is a London shortening (1826) of 'cabriolet', a light horse-drawn carriage, from French cabriolet, a diminutive of cabriole 'a leap, a caper' — the carriage's springy ride was likened to a young goat's skipping. The word then passed to hansoms, to locomotives, and from 1899 to motor cars for hire.

cab 是 1826 年倫敦人把 cabriolet（一種輕便馬車）縮短來的口語說法。cabriolet 來自法文，是 cabriole「一跳、一躍」的小稱——這種馬車彈簧軟，坐起來一顛一顛的，像小山羊在蹦跳，名字就這麼來的。後來這個字跟著車體走：先給了雙輪馬車，再給了火車頭上的駕駛室，1899 年起給了出租的汽車。

Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), entry 'cab'

From the picture

司機坐的那一格

同一輛馬車，這次留下來的不是「載客」而是「有人坐在裡面的那個小車廂」。火車頭前面那個罩住司機的隔間先被叫做 cab，卡車、公車、起重機也跟著沿用。

driver's compartment · noun · B1

The front part of a truck, bus, or train where the driver sits.

駕駛室

Also in this word

horse-drawn carriage · noun · B1

A horse-drawn carriage that people paid to ride in, used in the past.

（舊時）出租馬車

taxi · noun · B1

A car you pay to ride in; another everyday word for a taxi.

計程車

原始詞典資料21 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

CABname

  • 1

    rail-transportrailwaystransportThe station code of Causeway Bay in Hong Kong.

Cabnoun詞源 2

  • 1

    hobbieslifestyleskateboardingA type of aerial spin; a switch frontside rotation.

cabnoun詞源 1/kæb/

  • 1

    A compartment at the front of a truck or train for the driver.

  • 2

    A similar compartment in other vehicles.

    • Dad looked up to catch sight of the man in the crane’s cab. He knew that DEVILISH smirk anywhere. It was Fingers.
  • 3

    A shelter at the top of an air traffic control tower or fire lookout tower.

  • 4

    historicalAny of several two- or four-wheeled carriages; a cabriolet.

    • Captain went out in the cab all the morning. Harry came in after school to feed me and give me water. In the afternoon I was put into the cab. Jerry took as much pains to see if the collar and bridle fitted comfortably, as if he had been John Manly over again. When the crupper was let out a hole or two, it all fitted well. There was no bearing rein—no curb—nothing but a plain ring snaffle. What a blessing that was!
    • “There will soon be very few hansom cabs left,” said Mrs. Elliot. “And four-wheeled cabs—I assure you even at Oxford it’s almost impossible to get a four-wheeled cab.”
  • 5

    Synonym of taxi, a vehicle available for public hire for single journeys.

    • a cab ride
    • to take a cab

cabverb詞源 1/kæb/

  • 1

    To travel by taxicab.

cabnoun詞源 2/kæb/

  • 1

    historicalunits-of-measureA former Hebrew unit of volume, about equal to 1.3 L as a dry measure or 1.25 L as a liquid measure.

    • […] in the famine of Samaria […] the fourth part of a cab of pigeon's dung was sold for five pieces of silver […]

cabnoun詞源 3/kæb/

  • 1

    informalvideo-gamesAn arcade cabinet, the unit in which a video game is housed in a gaming arcade.

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：

資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。