tricycle

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈtraɪsɪkəl/ UK /ˈtraɪsɪkəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a three-wheeled cycle, especially one ridden by a small child

The toddler pedaled his red tricycle up and down the driveway.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a three-wheeled cycle,... trikethree-wheeler

Word family

Related forms bicycle cycle unicycle motorcycle

Simplified etymology

Tricycle combines tri-, “three,” with cycle, whose history ultimately involves Greek kuklos, “wheel.” The word is recorded from the 1820s, when it named a three-wheeled coach drawn by two horses.

Etymology

A 19th-century coinage from Greek tri- ('three') + kyklos ('wheel, circle'), modelled on bicycle.

tri Latin kyklos Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# tricycle

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈtraɪsɪkəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtraɪsɪkəl/

## Meanings
1. a three-wheeled cycle, especially one ridden by a small child

## Examples
- The toddler pedaled his red tricycle up and down the driveway.

## Synonyms
- trike
- three-wheeler

## Related Forms
- bicycle
- cycle
- unicycle
- motorcycle

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: tri
- Root: kyklos
- Affix: tri- - three

## Etymology
A 19th-century coinage from Greek tri- ('three') + kyklos ('wheel, circle'), modelled on bicycle.

## AI Etymology
Tricycle is a 19th-century coinage from Greek tri- ('three') + kyklos ('wheel, circle'), modelled on bicycle. Important recorded forms include tri (Ancient Greek) and kyklos (Ancient Greek). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense continues the older lexical line without requiring a separate origin. In current use it covers a three-wheeled cycle, especially one ridden by a small child. The wider family includes related words such as bicycle, cycle, unicycle, and motorcycle.

## Topics
- People & Society

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