Chauffeur
/ˈʃoʊ.fɜːr/noun
A person employed to drive a private vehicle.
Did you know?The word comes from French *chauffer*, “to heat,” because early steam-car drivers literally had to tend the boiler like a furnace keeper.
Etymological Timeline
Late 18th Century
French
chauffeur
“A stoker or person who heats a furnace, especially on a steam engine or boat”
Late 18th Century
French
chauffer
“To heat, warm, or make hot”
Late Latin
Latin
calefacere
“To make warm or heat up”
Classical Latin
Latin
calidus
“Warm, hot”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kel-
“To be warm; to heat”