fiacre

/fɪˈɑːkɹə/

Etymology

Borrowed from French fiacre. From Hôtel de Saint Fiacre, a tavern in Paris operating a horse-carriage service from the 1640s, itself named after the Irish Saint Fiacre (c. 600–670 CE), perhaps from Irish fiach (“raven”).

Why this word is great

FIACRE — [Noun] A small, four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage for hire, often modest and utilitarian. From French fiacre, from Hôtel de Saint Fiacre (a Parisian tavern operating carriage services), named after Saint Fiacre, an Irish saint (c. 600–670 CE), possibly from Irish fiach ("raven"). Unlike the "hansom" (sleek, two-wheeled, built for speed) or the "brougham" (enclosed, plush, a private cocoon for the wealthy), the fiacre was democratic in its discomfort: a rattling wooden box on axles, smelling of damp wool and old leather, its windows fogged with the breath of strangers. It was the clatter of hooves on cobblestones at dusk, the impatient flick of a driver’s whip, the way a city’s pulse could be measured in the creak of wheels turning—proof that movement, however inelegant, is the only antidote to stillness.

noun

  1. A small horse-drawn carriage for hire; a hackney carriage.“On the road to Choissi, a fiacre, or hackney-coach, stopped, and out came five or six men, armed with musquets, who took post, each behind a separate tree.”