rickshaw English · revision 1489
12 Oct 2026, 10:29 by bogdan “New entry from the dictionary sources” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping, borrowing|attested=1885}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈɹɪkˌʃɔː/^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is a shortened form of [[jinrikisha]] (1873),^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023) which is [[bor|ja|jinrikisha]], from [[m|ja|jin|t=man]], [[m|ja|riki|t=power]] and [[m|ja|sha|t=carriage]].^(Etymonline) The elements are said to be ultimately from Chinese,^(Etymonline) and Watkins suggests that the Old Chinese word for a wheeled vehicle may come from Indo-European, perhaps by way of Tocharian.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A small two-wheeled carriage drawn by a man (1885 in Etymonline; 1887 in the OED, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The vehicle was first used in Japan.^(MW Collegiate) Etymonline notes that a ghost story by Kipling, who spelled it ''’rickshaw'', helped popularize the word.^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) It came to be used in many parts of Asia,^(Collins 2023) and the name was extended to a three-wheeled vehicle pedalled like a tricycle, the cycle rickshaw or [[trishaw]],^(Collins 2023)^(Evans 1997) and to the motorized [[autorickshaw]].^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1873 – ''jinrikisha''.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1885 – ''rickshaw'' (Etymonline).^(Etymonline)
+ * 1887 – first quotation in the OED.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A small two-wheeled passenger vehicle pulled by one person, used originally in Japan and later in other parts of Asia; a [[jinrikisha]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)
+ # A similar three-wheeled vehicle propelled by pedalling; a [[trishaw]].^(Collins 2023)^(Evans 1997)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # To carry someone by rickshaw.^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[trishaw]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[jinriksha]]
+ * [[jinrikisha]]
+ * [[pedicab]]
+ * [[autorickshaw]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}