# taxi

Pronunciation: say "TAK-see" /ˈtæk.si/

## Noun

1. A vehicle hired for single journeys by members of the public, usually fitted with a meter that calculates the fare.
   - Simple: A car you pay to ride in for a single trip, usually with a meter that shows the fare.
   - _She hailed a taxi on the corner and asked the driver to hurry._
   - _Late at night, taxis are easier to find near the hotel district._
4. The movement of an aircraft across an airport surface under its own power, or the phase of operation that consists of that ground movement.
   - Simple: The slow movement of an airplane along the ground using its own engines.
   - _The taxi to the active runway was delayed by congestion on the apron._
   - _Heavy ground traffic can extend the taxi well beyond the scheduled time._
5. A vehicle shared by several passengers traveling roughly the same way, with each rider paying a portion of the fare. *(dialectal, Iran, South Africa)*
   - Simple: A car or van that several passengers share, each paying part of the fare for the trip.
   - _Each morning she catches a taxi that fills with commuters before leaving the stand._
   - _Fares on the taxi are cheaper because the cost is split among the riders._

## Verb

2. To make a journey by taxi rather than by another means of transport.
   - Simple: To travel to a place by riding in a taxi.
   - _They taxied to the airport rather than drive themselves._
   - _On rainy days I taxi to work to stay dry._
3. To move an aircraft along the ground under its own power, as before takeoff or after landing.
   - Simple: To move an airplane slowly along the ground using its own engines.
   - _The crew will taxi the aircraft to the de-icing pad before departure._
   - _After landing, the plane taxied off the runway and toward the terminal._

## Noun

6. An aircraft used to practice maneuvering on the ground. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A plane used for practicing moving and steering on the ground.
   - _Before his first real flight, each pupil spent a week rolling the school's taxi across the airfield to get a feel for the rudder._
   - _The squadron kept one worn taxi for teaching new pilots to handle the controls on the ground._

## Origin

"Taxi" is a shortening of "taximeter cab," where "taximeter" (an automatic meter that records distance and fare) came from French taximètre, from German Taxameter, coined from the Medieval Latin taxa ("tax, charge"). The aviation sense originally came from a slang term for training aircraft used to practice ground operations, said to drive around the airfield like a taxicab, and was later applied to all aircraft ground movements.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/taxi (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).