cycle

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A set of events that happen again and again in the same order.

   The washing machine runs through a full cycle in about an hour.

2. 2
   noun

   A period of time in which a regular series of events is completed once.

   The cycle of the seasons brings warm summers and cold winters.

3. 3
   verb

   To pass through a repeating series of stages.

   The heating system cycles on and off throughout the night.

4. 4
   verb

   To ride a bicycle.

   She cycles to work every morning to stay fit.

From Middle English cicle (“fixed length period of years”), from Late Latin cyclus, from Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “circle”), from Proto-Hellenic *kúklos, *kʷókʷlos, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos (“circle, wheel”). Doublet of chakra, chakram, charkha, chukker, cyclus, kike, and wheel (see there for more).

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