hackney

From Middle English hakeney; probably from Hackney (formerly a town, now a borough of London), used for grazing horses before sale, or from Old French haquenee (“ambling mare for ladies”), Latinized in England to hakeneius (though some recent French sources report that the English usage predates the French).

• IPA^(key): /ˈhækni/

hackney (plural hackneys)

1. (archaic) An ordinary horse.
2. A carriage for hire or a cab.
3. A horse used to ride or drive.
4. A breed of English horse.
5. (archaic) A hired drudge; a hireling; a prostitute.

hackney (not comparable)

1. Offered for hire; hence, much used; trite; mean.

   hackney coaches

   hackney authors

   • Roscommon

     his accumulative and hackney tongue

hackney (third-person singular simple present hackneys, present participle hackneying, simple past and past participle hackneyed)

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