The classic definition of a carriage is a four-wheeled horse-drawn private passenger vehicle, especially one that is large and comfortable; see also stagecoach. Some of the names for types of carriage have been adopted to describe body types of automobiles while others are now the trivia of history: 'coupé' 'victoria' 'landau' 'cabriolet' 'phaeton' 'limousine' all once denoted particular models of carriages. So did the unfamiliar 'calèche' (or 'calash'), 'berline' 'diligence' 'surrey' 'vis-à-vis.'

Two-wheeled conveyances went by other names: 'gig' 'Hansom cab,' 'chaise' (corrupted to 'shay'), 'sulky' 'trap'.

The word car meaning "wheeled vehicle," came from Norman French at the beginning of the 14th century; it was extended to cover "automobile" in 1896.

In British English a railway carriage (also called a coach) is a railroad car designed and equipped for conveying passengers.

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