velocipede

[vuh-los-uh-peed]

noun

1. a vehicle, usually having two or three wheels, that is propelled by the rider.

2. an early kind of bicycle or tricycle.

3. a light, three-wheeled, pedal-driven vehicle for railway inspection, used for carrying one person on a railroad track.

velocipede

/ vɪˈlɒsɪˌpiːd /

noun

1. an early form of bicycle propelled by pushing along the ground with the feet

2. any early form of bicycle or tricycle

Other Word Forms

• velocipedist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of velocipede¹

1810–20; < French vélocipède bicycle, equivalent to véloci- (< Latin, stem of vēlōx quick) + -pède -ped

Word History and Origins

Origin of velocipede¹

C19: from French vélocipède, from Latin vēlōx swift + pēs foot

Example Sentences

Whether the job was to jump on a stolen velocipede, win over a band of pirates, visibilize invisible ink, pen a sonnet, or don a disguise, Simon Harley-Dickinson was the man for it.

Read more on Literature

It was not edelweiss, of course, for edelweiss is not native to England, but it was close enough to make Penelope’s thoughts gain force and speed, like a velocipede flying down a hill.

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“You there, in the tweed cap! May I borrow your velocipede?”

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Bike-adjacent inventions that roll atop train tracks have been known by many different names — handcar, draisine, kalamazoo and velocipede are just a few — since they first cropped up around the 1860s.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

And between two wooden luggage carts from the late 1800s sits a railway velocipede, a three-wheeled handcar that was operated by pedals.

Read more on Washington Times

Related Words

• bike