chauffeur

n. 司机

vt. 开车运送

vi. 当汽车司机

中文词源

chauffeur 司机

词源同chafe, 擦热，加热，-eur, 人。原指早期给火车加煤的人，后用来指司机，特指富人或要人的私人司机。

chauffeur (n.): 1896, originally "a motorist," from French chauffeur, literally "stoker," operator of a steam engine, French nickname for early motorists, from chauffer "to heat," from Old French chaufer "to heat, warm up; to become hot" (see chafe). The first motor-cars were steam-driven. Sense of "professional or paid driver of a private motor car" is from 1902.
The '95 Duryea wagon, which won the Chicago contest Fall, was exhibited at the Detroit Horse Show last week. Charles B. King, treasurer of the American Motor League, acted as "chauffeur," as the French say. ["The Horseless Age," April 1896]
chauffeur (v.): 1902, from chauffeur (n.). Related: Chauffeured; chauffeuring.

谐音“师傅”，我们经常称呼马路上的司机为“师傅”。词根-chauf-指“加热”，来自古法语chaufer“加热”。司机和加热是什么关系呢？最早的汽车是用蒸汽驱动的，每15分钟就要停车向锅炉加煤，以保持热能。同源的chafe（摩擦）就不难理解了，摩擦生热嘛~

1. His chauffeur misread his route and took a wrong turning.: 他的司机看错路线，拐错了方向。

2. It was certainly useful to have her there to chauffeur him around.: 有她在那儿还是挺有用的，能开车带他到处跑。