vélocipède

Forms

vélocipède m (plural vélocipèdes)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French véloci- + -pède, a learned compound of the Latin elements vēlōx (“swift”) and pēs (“foot”).^[2][1][3][4] Bloch and Wartburg see it as made on the model of bipède.^[5] Compare vélocifère, an earlier name of a fast carriage.^[2][1][3]

Many European languages soon borrowed it from French: English velocipede (June 1818), Italian velocipede (September 1818), Spanish velocípedo, Portuguese velocípede and Romanian velociped.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in 1804, in the minutes of the Académie des sciences, for a very fast carriage drawn by horses, run by a M. de Chabannes.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word named the driver of such a carriage in 1808 and a runner on foot in the 1820s,^[3][7] and Boiste gave it as an adjective, “light-footed”, in 1823.^[2] These senses gave way to the one recorded in 1818: a machine with a seat on two or three wheels, at first pushed along by the feet on the ground, an improvement of the célérifère and the draisienne.^[2][3] A patent for a “machine appelée vélocipède” was granted on 17 February 1818, and the first races of vélocipèdes ou draisiennes were held in the Luxembourg gardens that April.^[2] Pedals were added in 1861, and the machine led to the modern bicycle.^[2]

The word had a family in the 1860s, vélocipédiste (1868), vélocipédie and vélocipédique, all later replaced by cycliste and cyclisme;^[3][5] it was shortened to véloce (1869)^[3] and, more lastingly, to vélo.^[5] Today it is used of the old machine, or ironically of a bicycle.^[8][9] English took it in 1818.^[10]

Timeline

• 1804 – First recorded, for a fast horse-drawn carriage.^[2][3]
• 1808 – Used of the driver of a célérifère or vélocifère.^[7][3]
• 1818 – A patent is granted for a “machine appelée vélocipède”, and races of vélocipèdes ou draisiennes are held in Paris.^[2]
• 1818 – English borrows it as velocipede.^[10][6]
• 1823 – Boiste records an adjective meaning “light-footed”.^[2]
• 1824 – Used for a runner on foot.^[2]
• 1868 – Vélocipédiste is recorded.^[5][3]
• 1869 – Shortened to véloce.^[3]
• 1933 – Larousse records a sense in engraving.^[2][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) An early machine for riding, with a seat on two or three wheels, driven first by pushing the feet on the ground and later by pedals fixed to the front wheel, ancestor of the bicyclette.^[8][11][2]
2. (humorous) A bicycle.^[8][9]

Word family

• vélo
• vélomoteur
• vélocipédiste
• vélocipédique

Related words

• véloce
• vélocité
• vélocifère
• draisienne
• English velocipede

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Steinfeld, Nadine; Buchi, Éva, eds. (2005–), TLF-Étym: révision des notices étymologiques du Trésor de la langue française informatisé, Nancy: ATILF
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)