Jaunting-car

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A Jaunting-car is a light two-wheeled carriage for a single horse, in its commonest form with seats for four persons placed back to back, with the foot-boards projecting over the wheels. It was the typical conveyance for persons in Ireland at one time. The first part of the word is generally taken to be identical with the verb to jaunt, now only used in the sense of to go on a short pleasure excursion, but in its earliest uses meaning to make a horse caracole or prance, hence to jolt or bump up and down. It would apparently be a variant of jaunce, of the same meaning, which is supposed to be taken from old French jancer. Skeat takes the origin of jaunt and jaunce to be Scandinavian, and connects them with the Swedish dialect word ganta, to romp; and he finds cognate bases in such words as jump, high jinks. The word jaunty, sprightly, especially used of anything done with an easy nonchalant air, is a corrupt~ion of janty, due to confusion with jaunt. Janty, often spelt in the 17th and 18th centuries jant or jantee, represents the English pronunciation of French gentil, well-bred, neat, spruce.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.