这是个很有意思的问题.过去还没有想过它们的区别.
cab一般有两个意思,一是指出租车,一是指一些车如卡车前坐人的驾驶仓.而taxi就只有出租车的意思.
同时,cab是cabriolet的简写,即出租车前身,一种light,horse-drawn carriage which replaced the heavier hackney carriage in the 19th century as the vehicle for hire of choice in Paris and London,and were the forerunners of modern taxicabs.
cabriolets在20世纪时,被taxicab取代了.taxicab是taxi(即meter) + cab(riolet)的合成词.