coachwheel

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English coach

Proto-Indo-European *kʷel-

Proto-Indo-European *kʷekʷléh₂

Proto-Germanic *hweulō

Old English hwēol

Middle English whel

English wheel

English coachwheel

From coach + wheel.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

coachwheel (plural coachwheels)

1. A cartwheel, the wheel of a horse-drawn coach
2. (UK, historical, obsolete slang) A crown coin; its value, 5 shillings.
   • 1859, J.C. Hotten, A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words:

     Half-a-crown is known as an alderman, half a bull, half a tusheroon, and a madza caroon; whilst a crown piece, or five shillings, may be called either a bull, or a caroon, or a cartwheel, or a coachwheel, or a thick-un, or a tusheroon.