hackney
/ˈhækni/noun, adjective, verb
hackney is spelled H-A-C-K-N-E-Y: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hackney means “A carriage for hire or a cab” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hackney is hackneys.
How many letters and syllables are in hackney?
| Letters | 7: H-A-C-K-N-E-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,536th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hackney?
Hackney appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hackney?
- /ˈhækni/
Hackney has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hackney.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-hackney.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hackney
- hackneys plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- hackneying participle, present
- hackneyed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hackney mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
archaicAn ordinary horse.
- 2
A carriage for hire or a cab.
- 3
A horse used to ride or drive.
- 4
A breed of English horse.
- 5
archaicA hired drudge; a hireling; a prostitute.
- 6
archaicInferior writing; literary hackwork.
Not that the existence of Grub street is to be doubted: it was, indeed, a grim actuality, and many a garreter realised by experience How unhappy's the fate To live by one's pate And to be forced to write hackney for bread.
adjective
- 1
Offered for hire.
hackney coaches
- 2
Much used; trite; mean.
hackney authors
verb
- 1
To make uninteresting or trite by frequent use.
- 2
To use as a hackney.
- 3
To carry in a hackney coach.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hackney in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | haquenée , hackney |
| Portuguese | batido, trivial, banal, corriqueiro |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hackney come from?
From Middle English hakeney, from the placename Hackney (formerly a town; now a borough of London), used for grazing horses before sale, from Old English *Hacan īeġ (“Haca's Island”, literally “Hook's Island”). The Old French haquenée (“ambling mare for ladies”), Latinized in England to hakeneius, is originally from the English.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).