Hatchback
/ˈhætʃ.bæk/noun
A car with a rear door that opens upward and gives access to the cargo area.
Did you know?The term is a modern automotive compound, and its power comes from the older word hatch, which originally meant a door or opening in a floor, roof, or ship — a literal portal word.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
hæcc
“a hatch, gate, or barrier”
Middle English
ME
hacche
“a hatch or opening”
Late Old English / Middle English
ME
bæc
“the back or rear side of a body or object”
20th Century
English
hatch-back
“an automobile with a rear hinged door over the cargo area”
Modern English
English
hatchback
“a car body style with a rear door that opens upward”