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Vinony

hackney

noun

  1. carriage for hire
L35009 on Wikidata ↗

verb

  1. overuse
L35010 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈhækni/ / /hækni/

adj

Etymology: From Middle English hakeney, from the placename Hackney (formerly a town; now a borough of London), used for grazing horses before sale, from Old English *Hacan īeġ (“Haca's Island”, literally “Hook's Island”). The Old French haquenée (“ambling mare for ladies”), Latinized in England to hakeneius, is originally from the English.

  1. Offered for hire.

    “hackney coaches”

  2. Much used; trite; mean.

    “hackney authors”

    “his accumulative and hackney tongue”

name

Etymology: 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.

  1. A London borough in Greater London, England, where once upon a time many horses were pastured.
  2. A town in eastern London, England, within this borough (OS grid ref TQ3584).
  3. An English habitational surname from Old English.
  4. One of several breeds of compact English horses: see hackney
  5. (means of transportation): see hackney.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English hakeney, from the placename Hackney (formerly a town; now a borough of London), used for grazing horses before sale, from Old English *Hacan īeġ (“Haca's Island”, literally “Hook's Island”). The Old French haquenée (“ambling mare for ladies”), Latinized in England to hakeneius, is originally from the English.

  1. An ordinary horse.
  2. A carriage for hire or a cab.

    “"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?"”

  3. A horse used to ride or drive.
  4. A breed of English horse.
  5. A hired drudge; a hireling; a prostitute.
  6. Inferior writing; literary hackwork.

    “Not that the existence of Grub street is to be doubted: it was, indeed, a grim actuality, and many a garreter realised by experience How unhappy's the fate To live by one's pate And to be forced to write hackney for bread.”

verb

Etymology: From Middle English hakeney, from the placename Hackney (formerly a town; now a borough of London), used for grazing horses before sale, from Old English *Hacan īeġ (“Haca's Island”, literally “Hook's Island”). The Old French haquenée (“ambling mare for ladies”), Latinized in England to hakeneius, is originally from the English.

  1. To make uninteresting or trite by frequent use.
  2. To use as a hackney.
  3. To carry in a hackney coach.

    “[…] To her, who, frugal only that her thrift / May feed excesses she can ill afford, / Is hackneyed home unlackeyed; […]”