A large, luxurious automobile, especially one driven by a chauffeur with a partition separating the driver from the passengers.
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French1902well-attested
From French 'limousine' (originally a type of heavy hooded cloak characteristic of the Limousin region of central France), a feminine adjective from 'Limousin,' the name of a former province in the Massif Central. Early enclosed motor cars — the style developed around 1902 — had a distinctive profile: an enclosed passenger compartment with a separate, partially exposed driver's seat sheltered by a projecting roof overhang. French observers compared this profile to the hooded figures of Limousin shepherdswrapped in their regional
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The limousine is named after shepherds' cloaks from the Limousin region of France — early car designers saw the enclosed passenger cabin with its roof extending over the open driver's area as resembling a hooded figure, so the car was named after the cloak, not the car.
Limousin(French (the region — source of the car name))limo(English clipping (informal shortening since 1960s))Lemovices(Gaulish tribal name (etymology of Limousin))berline(French (enclosed carriage named after Berlin — parallel naming pattern))sedan(English (enclosed car body — parallel type name))