Etymology

chauffeur

C3H4A1U1F4F4E1U1R1

Today it means: A person employed to drive a private motor car or a hired car of executive or luxury class (like a limousine). Full definition →

French chauffeur ← Middle French chauffer ← Old French chaufer
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

chauffeur · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱleh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱl̥h₁éh₁yeti
  3. Proto-Italic*kalēō
  4. Latincaleō
  5. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁k-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*dʰh₁kyéti
  8. Proto-Italic*θakjō
  9. Proto-Italic*fakjō
  10. Latinfaciō
  11. Latincalefaciō
  12. Classical Latincalfaciō
  13. Vulgar Latin*calfō
  14. Old Frenchchaufer
  15. Middle Frenchchauffer
  16. Frenchchauffer
  17. Frenchchauffeur
  18. English todaychauffeur

Borrowed from French chauffeur.

Chauffeur · noun2

  1. French · borrowed fromchauffeur“heater, stoker”
  2. English todayChauffeur

From French chauffeur (“heater, stoker”), as they were said to burn the feet of their victims to extort money.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.