The
classic definition of a carriage is
a four-wheeled horse-drawn private
passenger vehicle with leaf springs
(elliptical springs in the 19th century)
or leather strapping for suspension,
whether light, smart and fast or large
and comfortable. Compare the public
conveyances stagecoach, charabanc,
and omnibus. A vehicle that is not
sprung is a wagon. An American buckboard
or Conestoga wagon or "prairie
schooner" was never taken for
a carriage, but a waggonette was a
pleasure vehicle, with lengthwise
seats. The word car meaning "wheeled
vehicle," came from Norman French
at the beginning of the 14th century;
it was extended to cover automobile
in 1896. In British English a railway
carriage (also called a coach) is
a railroad car designed and equipped
for conveying passengers.
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