Cabdriving is a compound of cab + driving; cab is shortened from cabriolet (a light carriage), from French cabriolet, ultimately from Latin capra ('goat'), via the notion of a leaping motion. The historical trail runs through cabriolet in French and capra in Latin. Morphologically, cabdriving is transparent: it is a compound of cab + driving. Used as a noun, cabdriving now means "the occupation of driving a taxicab", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as cab, driving, and cabdriver. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.