A passenger vehicle that runs on tracks, typically through city streets.
From Low German 'trame' meaning a beam or shaft, specifically the wooden rails that mine cars ran on in 16th-century coal mines. Scottish coal miners brought the word to the surface when they started using similar rail systems for public transport in the 1800s. The underground mining word literally came up from the depths to describe city transportation.
Every time you ride a tram in San Francisco or Melbourne, you're using a word that once echoed through dark coal mines centuries ago. Scottish miners gave us the term when they realized their underground rail technology could revolutionize city transport, bringing a piece of the mining world into urban life.
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