surrey

See also: Surrey

English

WOTD – 11 October 2017

A Spider Surrey made in 1900 by A. T. Demarest & Co. of New York City, on display at the Luray Caverns Car and Carriage Museum in Luray, Virginia, USA

Etymology

From the Surrey cart, a type of carriage originally made in the county of Surrey in England, UK, and introduced into the USA in 1872.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌɹi/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌɹi/, /ˈsə-/
• Rhymes: -ʌɹi
• Hyphenation: sur‧rey

Noun

surrey (plural surreys)

1. (historical) A light horse-drawn carriage with forward-facing seats accommodating two or four people, popular in the United States; a motorized carriage of similar design.
   • 1874 April 1, “Half-spring No-top Surrey”, in The Hub, volume 16, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Hub Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 9, column 2:

     The Surrey must be looked upon as the spring novelty in the way of road-wagons.

   • 1941 September, August W[illiam] Derleth, “Beyond the Threshold”, in D. McIlwraith, editor, Weird Tales, volume 36, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Weird Tales, →OCLC; republished in Robert M[cNair] Price, editor, The Ithaqua Cycle: The Wind-walker of the Icy Wastes (Chaosium Publication; no. 6021), Hayward, Calif.: Chaosium, 2006, →ISBN, page 84:

     It suffered a wide verandah, one side of which led directly into the stables where, in former days, horses, surreys, and buggies had been kept, and where now two cars were housed— […]

   • 1943, “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top”, in Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics), Richard Rodgers (music), Oklahoma!:

     When I take you out, tonight, with me, / Honey, here's the way it's goin' to be: / You will set behind a team of snow white horses, / In the slickest gig you ever see! // Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry / When I take you out in the surrey, / When I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top!

Further reading

• surrey (carriage) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia