noun
Etymology
Origin of monorail
Explanation
A monorail is similar to a train, but instead of traveling on two tracks, it uses just one. If you visit Tokyo or Disney World, you'll probably travel on a monorail. Most monorails are elevated, with trains either moving above a single track or dangling from it, suspended by a wide rail. They generally run on electricity, which flows through the track and keeps the train moving. The earliest monorails were designed in the late 1800s, and this is also when the word developed, from mono, "one" in Greek, and rail, from the Latin regula, "straight stick."
Vocabulary lists containing monorail
mon, mono (one)
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: mono
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The option eliminates a controversial monorail proposal through the Sepulveda Pass and bypasses a stop at the Getty Center, which had once been under consideration.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026
Meanwhile, chaos erupted on Tuesday after a monorail system, which was reportedly full far beyond its capacity, halted mid-track.
From BBC • Aug. 20, 2025
Bob Gurr, the designer of the monorail, the Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Haunted Mansion “doom buggies” and more, isn’t slowing down.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2025
A food hall, the Parkside Market, will host multiple eateries offering fried chicken, Korean rice bowls and more, as well as a second-story bar that looks out toward the district’s monorail tracks.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2024
Lenina, meanw hile, had turned her eyes away and was looking perpendicularly downwards at the monorail station.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
