Meanings
plural wagons-lits
- rail transportA sleeping car, often used in international trains in continental Europe; the Wagons-Lits company also ran dining cars.
As an extreme example, the charge for dinner in the "Northern Irishman" from Euston to Stranraer Harbour (for the Larne boat) has been increased to as much as 16s 6d, because of the small demand; this is coming close to the level of Wagons-Lits charges abroad.
1962 February, “Talking of Trains: Dearer meals in B.R. trains”, in Modern Railways, page 78
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna passenger car that has berths for sleeping
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchwagon-lit
- Englishwagon-lit
From French wagon-lit.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
wagon-lit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wagon-lit
“wagon-lit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wagon-lit. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wagon-lit,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wagon-lit.
Source: wagon-lit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.