Brougham Meaning
/ˈbɹuːəm/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with an open seat for the driver in front of a closed cabin for two or four passengers, designed in 1839.
nounAn automobile, a sedan without a roof over the driver's seat.
Sentence Examples
The old carriage was a brougham.
She rode in a luxurious brougham.
The wealthy family traveled in a luxurious horse-drawn brougham.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The wealthy lady arrived in a horse-drawn ____ carriage.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A ____ is an old type of horse-drawn carriage used in the past city.
Word Origin & History
Named after British statesman Lord Brougham (1778–1868), who either invented or popularized the vehicle.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"“Yes,” he continued, glancing out of the window. “A nice little brougham and a pair of beauties.”"
— 1891 June 25, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Adventure I.—A Scandal in Bohemia.”, in Geo[rge] Newnes, editor, The Strand Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly, volume II, London: George Newnes, Limited, […], published July 1891, →OCLC:
"It was flood-tide along Fifth Avenue; motor, brougham, and victoria swept by on the glittering current; pretty women glanced out from limousine and tonneau; young men of his own type, silk-hatted, frock-coated, the crooks of their walking sticks tucked up under their left arms, passed on the Park side."
— 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “His Own People”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 6:
"The shooting motor cars, more like spiders in the moon than terrestrial objects, the thundering drays, the jingling hansoms, and little black broughams, made her think of the world she lived in."
— 1915, Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out, London: Duckworth & Co., […], →OCLC:
"Mr. H. R. Pope writes that in 1879 his father bought a new brougham in London, and the vehicle was taken to Victoria Station for conveyance to Brighton by passenger train. It so happened that the carriage truck was attached to the train by which Mr. Pope and his father were returning to Sussex, and the stationmaster allowed them to make the journey in the brougham."
— 1951 November, “By Train in a Brougham”, in Railway Magazine, page 778:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The wealthy lady arrived in a horse-drawn ____ carriage.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A ____ is an old type of horse-drawn carriage used in the past city.