Etymologically
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bike

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /baɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is a shortened and altered form of bicycle.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A bicycle: 1882 in Barnhart, Etymonline and the OED, American English.[3][2][5] MWU gives 1880.[4]

Semantic evolution

It was also used for a motorcycle from the start.[5][6] The verb, to ride a bike, is from 1883 in the OED and by 1895 in Etymonline.[5][2] Biker is late 19th century,[5] later especially a member of a motorcycle gang.[7] In Australian and New Zealand slang, to get off one's bike (1939) is to lose control of oneself,[5][7] and the British on your bike!, go away, is from 1967.[5][7] Bikeway is from 1967, originally North American.[5]

Timeline

  • 1882 – a bicycle.[3][2][5]
  • 1883 – verb, to ride a bike.[5]
  • 1939 – get off one's bike.[5]
  • 1967 – on your bike! and bikeway.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (informal) A bicycle.
  2. (informal) A motorcycle.

Verb

  1. To ride a bicycle or motorcycle.

Word family

  • bikeway
  • minibike
  • biker
  • bikie
  • push-bike
  • exercise bike
  • trail bike

Usage notes

A different word bike or byke, a nest of wild bees or wasps, and figuratively a swarm of people, is Scottish and northern English from before 1300, of uncertain origin.[5][7][8]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)