carriage for hire; hackney carriage
Refers to a horse-drawn carriage available for rent, similar to a taxi in pre-automobile times. Now mostly historical or used in period contexts.
In the Meiji era, carriages for hire were a common sight in town.
Compound of 貸し (kashi, 'lending') + 馬車 (basha, 'horse-drawn carriage'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word transparently describes a carriage for hire.