Editing Tram (section)

===Alternatives===
[[File:Boarding train at desert of maine.jpg|thumb|A trackless train is also called tram in U.S. English.]]
Although the terms ''tram'' and ''tramway'' have been adopted by many languages, they are not used universally in English; North Americans prefer ''streetcar'', ''trolley'', or ''trolleycar''. The term ''streetcar'' is first recorded in 1840, and originally referred to [[horsecar]]s.

The terms ''streetcar'' and ''trolley'' are often used interchangeably in the [[United States]], with ''trolley'' being the preferred term in the eastern US and ''streetcar'' in the western US. ''Streetcar'' is preferred in [[English Canada]], while ''tramway'' is preferred in [[Quebec]]. In parts of the United States, internally powered [[bus]]es made to resemble a streetcar are often referred to as "trolleys". To avoid further confusion with [[trolley bus]]es, the [[American Public Transportation Association]] (APTA) refers to them as "[[trolley-replica bus]]es". In the United States, the term ''tram'' has sometimes been used for rubber-tired [[trackless train]]s, which are unrelated to other kinds of trams.

A widely held belief holds the word trolley to derive from the ''troller'' (said to derive from the words ''traveler'' and ''roller''), a four-wheeled device that was dragged along dual overhead wires by a cable that connected the troller to the top of the car and collected electrical power from the [[overhead wire]]s;<ref>{{harvnb|Post|2007|p=43}}</ref> this [[portmanteau word|portmanteau derivation]] is, however, most likely [[folk etymology]]. "Trolley" and variants refer to the verb ''troll'', meaning "roll" and probably derived from [[Old French]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=trolley|title=Online Etymology Dictionary|work=etymonline.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912101708/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=trolley|archive-date=12 September 2015}}</ref> and cognate uses of the word were well established for handcarts and horse drayage, as well as for nautical uses.<ref>{{harvnb|Middleton|1967|p=60}}</ref>

The alternative North American term 'trolley' may strictly speaking be considered incorrect, as the term can also be applied to cable cars, or [[conduit car]]s that instead draw power from an underground supply. Conventional diesel [[bus|tourist buses]] decorated to look like streetcars are sometimes called ''trolleys'' in the US ([[tourist trolley]]). Furthering confusion, the term ''tram'' has instead been applied to open-sided, low-speed [[trackless train|segmented vehicles on rubber tires]] generally used to ferry tourists short distances, for example on the [[Universal Studios Backlot Tour|Universal Studios backlot tour]] and, in many countries, as tourist transport to major destinations. The term may also apply to an aerial ropeway, e.g. the [[Roosevelt Island Tramway]].