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Definition of phaeton - 5 dictionary results

pha⋅e⋅ton

[fey-i-tn or, especially Brit., feyt-n]
–noun
1. any of various light, four-wheeled carriages, with or without a top, having one or two seats facing forward, used in the 19th century.
2. a vintage automobile of the touring-car type.

Origin:
1585–95; special use of L Phaetōn, var. of Phaethōn Phaethon
pha·e·ton   (fā'ĭ-tn)   
n.  
  1. A light, four-wheeled open carriage, usually drawn by a pair of horses.
  2. A touring car.

[French phaéton, from Phaeton, Phaethon, from Old French, from Latin Phaethōn; see Phaëthon.]

Phaeton

Pha"["e]*ton\, n. [F. pha['e]ton a kind of carriage, fr. Pha['e]thon Pha["e]thon, the son of Helios. See Pha["e]thon.]

1. A four-wheeled carriage (with or without a top), open, or having no side pieces, in front of the seat. It is drawn by one or two horses.

2. See Pha["e]thon.

3. (Zo["o]l.) A handsome American butterfly (Euphydryas, or Melit[ae]a, Pha["e]ton). The upper side of the wings is black, with orange-red spots and marginal crescents, and several rows of cream-colored spots; -- called also Baltimore.

phaeton 
type of light four-wheeled carriage, 1742, from Fr. (1735), from Gk. Phaethon name of the son of Helios and Clymene, who tried to drive his father's sun-chariot but crashed after almost setting fire to the whole earth. His name is lit. "shining," from phaein "to shine, gleam," from phaos "light." Earlier as a name for a rash or adventurous driver (1593).

phaeton

open, four-wheeled, doorless carriage, popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. It contained one or two seats, usually had a folding, or falling, top, and was owner-driven (i.e., it had no outside driver's seat). The most spectacular phaeton was the English four-wheeled high-flyer, the body of which consisted of a light seat for two, resting atop two sets of springs and reached by ladder.

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