Hackney Meaning
/hækni/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn ordinary horse.
nameA London borough in Greater London, England, where once upon a time many horses were pastured.
Sentence Examples
The hackney carriage was old-fashioned.
She took a hackney to the airport.
The old hackney carriage rattled down the street.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old-fashioned horse-drawn carriage, called a ____, clattered down the cobblestone street.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In the past, people would often call for a ____ carriage to take them through the busy streets of old London.
Word Origin & History
The senses "a horse" and "(a means of transport) available for hire" derive from the fact that many horses were kept for hire in the London borough of Hackney. The place name is from Old English *Hacan īeġ "Hacan's Isle" (or "Hook's Island"), referring to dry land in a marsh.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
""Mamma would die if she knew. The boy," replied Georgiana, "walked with us to Oxford Street, and we took a hackney-coach. Will Mrs. Gooch ever forgive us for getting out of it at her door?""
— 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 186:
"his accumulative and hackney tongue"
— a. 1685, Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon, The Ghost of the old House of Commons to the new one appointed to meet at Oxford.:
"[…] To her, who, frugal only that her thrift / May feed excesses she can ill afford, / Is hackneyed home unlackeyed; […]"
— 1785, William Cowper, The Task:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old-fashioned horse-drawn carriage, called a ____, clattered down the cobblestone street.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In the past, people would often call for a ____ carriage to take them through the busy streets of old London.