[KAH-bree-oh-leyh] (n. m.) Cabriolets certainly are jumpy roadsters. And it makes sense because the cars are named after the 16th Century French verb cabrioler, which means "to leap or jump in the air like a goat." That's because an old French word for a young goat is cabri. So, picture a goat and it makes perfect sense they'd name the light horse-drawn carriage of the 1820s cabriolets. The term was extended to automobiles you hire to make short leaps about town, also known as taxicabs.
But what about taxi, you might wonder? Also from French: it's short for taximeter, which was used in London starting at the turn of the 20th Century and it's the anglicized version of taximètre. As in "tax by the meter." That's right, not taxiyard.