Standard Lemma guide

funicular

adj · noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪkjʊlə(ɹ)

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of, pertaining to, resembling, or powered by a rope or cable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of or pertaining to the umbilical cord.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Having a fleshy covering of the seed formed from the funiculus, the attachment point of the seed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Synonym of catenary.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: geometry, mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: catenary

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A particular type of rail transit system which ascends a steep urban or mountain incline, having usually two cars sharing a single pair of tracks, with the cars linked by a moving cable and an arrangement of pulleys such that the descending car assists in the hoisting of the ascending car, i.e. the two cars serve as counterweights for each other.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: funicular railway, cliff railway

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective

Meaning 6

relating to or operated by a cable

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • funicular railway

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

a railway up the side of a mountain pulled by a moving cable and having counterbalancing ascending and descending cars

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cable railway, funicular railway

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: railway, railroad, railroad line, railway line, railway system

History

Etymology

From Latin fūniculus (“thinner cord”), diminutive from fūnis (“rope, cord”) + -culus. By surface analysis, funicul(us) + -ar.

Across languages

Translations

55 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: въ̀жен (vǎ̀žen) — powered by a rope or cable
  • Catalan: funicular — powered by a rope or cable
  • Danish: kabeldrevet — powered by a rope or cable
  • French: funiculaire — powered by a rope or cable
  • Portuguese: funicular — powered by a rope or cable
  • Turkish: füniküler — powered by a rope or cable
  • Arabic: سِكَّة حَدِيد مُعَلَّقَة (sikkat ḥadīd muʕallaqa) — rail transit system
  • Arabic: سِكَّة حَدِيد وَتَرِيَّة (sikkat ḥadīd watariyya) — rail transit system
  • Armenian: ֆունիկուլյոր (funikulyor) — rail transit system
  • Basque: funikular — rail transit system
  • Belarusian: фуникулѐр — rail transit system
  • Bulgarian: въ̀жена лѝния (vǎ̀žena lìnija) — rail transit system
  • Bulgarian: фуникуле́р (funikulér) — rail transit system
  • Catalan: funicular — rail transit system
  • Chinese Mandarin: 纜索鐵路 /缆索铁路 (lǎnsuǒ tiělù) — rail transit system
  • Chuvash: фуникулёр (funik̬uljor) — rail transit system
  • Czech: pozemní lanovka — rail transit system
  • Danish: kabelbane — rail transit system
  • Dutch: funiculaire — rail transit system
  • Dutch: kabelbaan — rail transit system
  • Dutch: kabelspoorbaan — rail transit system
  • Esperanto: funikularo — rail transit system
  • Finnish: kiskoköysirata — rail transit system
  • Finnish: funikulaari — rail transit system
  • French: funiculaire — rail transit system
  • Georgian: ფუნიკულიორი (puniḳuliori) — rail transit system
  • German: Standseilbahn — rail transit system
  • Hindi: रज्जुरेल (rajjurel) — rail transit system
  • Hungarian: siklóvasút — rail transit system
  • Icelandic: fjallatoglest — rail transit system
  • Italian: funicolare — rail transit system
  • Japanese: 鋼索鉄道 (kōsaku tetsudō) — rail transit system
  • Japanese: ケーブルカー (kēburu-kā) — rail transit system
  • Korean: 강삭철도 (gangsakcheoldo) — rail transit system
  • Latvian: funikulers — rail transit system
  • Latvian: funikulieris — rail transit system
  • Ligurian: funicolâre — rail transit system
  • Lithuanian: funikulierius — rail transit system
  • Macedonian: искачница (iskačnica) — rail transit system
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kabelbane — rail transit system
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kabelbane — rail transit system
  • Polish: funikular — rail transit system
  • Portuguese: funicular — rail transit system
  • Romanian: funicular — rail transit system
  • Russian: фуникулёр (funikuljór) — rail transit system
  • Samogitian: fonėkolierios — rail transit system
  • Serbo-Croatian: успѝњача — rail transit system
  • Serbo-Croatian: uspìnjača — rail transit system
  • Slovak: pozemná lanovka — rail transit system
  • Slovene: funikular — rail transit system
  • Slovene: tirna vzpenjača — rail transit system
  • Spanish: funicular — rail transit system
  • Swedish: bergbana — rail transit system
  • Turkish: füniküler — rail transit system
  • Ukrainian: фунікуле́р (funikulér) — rail transit system
Real reading context

funicular in complete knowledge articles