Standard Lemma guide

monorail

noun · 3 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.

  • Canada, US: /ˈmɑnəɹeɪl/
  • UK: /ˈmɒnəɹeɪl/
  • UK: /ˈmɒnəʊˌɹeɪl/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: M AA1 N ER0 EY2 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

a railroad system where the trains run on one rail

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a train running on a single rail

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a railway having a single track

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

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

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French monorail, equivalent to mono- + rail.

Across languages

Translations

46 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: monorail — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Chinese Mandarin: 單軌鐵路 /单轨铁路 (dānguǐ tiělù) — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Dutch: monorail — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Finnish: yksiraiteinen — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Finnish: kohorata — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Finnish: monorail — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • French: monorail — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Galician: monorraíl — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Galician: monocarril — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • German: Einschienenbahn — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Greek: μονοτροχιόδρομος (monotrochiódromos) — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Indonesian: monorel — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Japanese: モノレール (monorēru) — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Korean: 모노레일 (monoreil) — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Macedonian: едноши́нка (ednošínka) — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Malay: monorel — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Norwegian Bokmål: énskinnebane — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Polish: kolej jednoszynowa — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Portuguese: monotrilho — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Portuguese: monocarril — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Romanian: monoșină — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Spanish: monorraíl — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Spanish: monorriel — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Spanish: monocarril — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Swedish: monorail — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Swedish: enskensbana — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Swedish: balkbana — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Turkish: monoray — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Ukrainian: монорейкова дорога (monorejkova doroha) — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Vietnamese: đường một rầy — a railroad system where the trains run on one rail
  • Chinese Mandarin: 單軌火車 /单轨火车 (dānguǐ huǒchē) — a train running on a single rail
  • Finnish: yksiraiteinen — a train running on a single rail
  • Finnish: kohoratajuna — a train running on a single rail
  • Finnish: monorailjuna — a train running on a single rail
  • French: wagon monorail — a train running on a single rail
  • Galician: monorraíl — a train running on a single rail
  • Galician: monocarril — a train running on a single rail
  • Icelandic: einteinungur — a train running on a single rail
  • Icelandic: einteinslest — a train running on a single rail
  • Macedonian: едноши́нец (ednošínec) — a train running on a single rail
  • Portuguese: monotrilho — a train running on a single rail
  • Portuguese: monocarril — a train running on a single rail
  • Russian: моноре́льс (monorélʹs) — a train running on a single rail
  • Spanish: monorraíl — a train running on a single rail
  • Spanish: monorriel — a train running on a single rail
  • Spanish: monocarril — a train running on a single rail