Standard Lemma guide

tricycle

noun · verb · 4 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: /ˈtɹaɪsɪkəl/
  • US: /ˈtɹaɪˌsɪkəl/
  • Canada: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -aɪsɪkəl
  • CMU ARPABET: T R IH1 S IH0 K AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A cycle with three wheels, powered by pedals and usually intended for young children.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: trike

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An autorickshaw; A motorized cycle rickshaw (usually a roofed motorcycle with sidecar, often available for hire in the manner of a taxi)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Philippines

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pedicab

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To ride a tricycle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The child tricycled around the driveway until dark.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: trike

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a vehicle with three wheels that is moved by foot pedals

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: trike, velocipede

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: wheeled vehicle

Narrower terms: pedicab, cycle rickshaw

History

Etymology

From French tricycle. By surface analysis, tri- + cycle.

Across languages

Translations

75 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: triçikël — cycle with three wheels
  • Asturian: triciclu — cycle with three wheels
  • Breton: teirrodeg — cycle with three wheels
  • Bulgarian: трико́лка (trikólka) — cycle with three wheels
  • Catalan: tricicle — cycle with three wheels
  • Chinese Cantonese: 三輪車 /三轮车 (saam1 leon4 ce1) — cycle with three wheels
  • Hakka Chinese: 三輪車 /三轮车 (sâm-lin-chhâ, sâm-lìn-chhâ, sâm-lien-chhâ) — cycle with three wheels
  • Chinese: 三輪車 /三轮车 (zh-min-nan) — cycle with three wheels
  • Chinese Mandarin: 三輪車 /三轮车 (sānlúnchē) — cycle with three wheels
  • Chinese Mandarin: 三輪腳踏車 /三轮脚踏车 (sānlún jiǎotàchē) — cycle with three wheels
  • Chinese Mandarin: 三輪兒 /三轮儿 (sānlúnr) — cycle with three wheels
  • Cornish: teyrros — cycle with three wheels
  • Czech: trojkolka — cycle with three wheels
  • Dutch: driewieler — cycle with three wheels
  • Estonian: kolmerattaline — cycle with three wheels
  • Finnish: kolmipyörä — cycle with three wheels
  • French: tricycle — cycle with three wheels
  • Galician: triciclo — cycle with three wheels
  • German: Dreirad — cycle with three wheels
  • Greek: τρίκυκλο (tríkyklo) — cycle with three wheels
  • Hebrew: תְּלַת אוֹפַן (t'lát-ófan) — cycle with three wheels
  • Hindi: तिपहिया (tiphiyā) — cycle with three wheels
  • Hungarian: tricikli — cycle with three wheels
  • Ido: triciklo — cycle with three wheels
  • Indonesian: roda tiga — cycle with three wheels
  • Irish: trírothach — cycle with three wheels
  • Italian: triciclo — cycle with three wheels
  • Japanese: 三輪車 (sanrinsha) — cycle with three wheels
  • Japanese: トライク (trike) — cycle with three wheels
  • Kazakh: үш дөңгелекті велосипед (üş döñgelektı velosiped) — cycle with three wheels
  • Khmer: ត្រីចក្រយាន (trəycakkrɑyiən) — cycle with three wheels
  • Korean: 세발자전거 (sebaljajeon'geo) — cycle with three wheels
  • Korean: 삼륜차 (samnyuncha) — cycle with three wheels
  • Latin: tricyclus — cycle with three wheels
  • Latin: triicyclettus — cycle with three wheels
  • Latvian: tricikls — cycle with three wheels
  • Lithuanian: triratis — cycle with three wheels
  • Lithuanian: triratukas — cycle with three wheels
  • Macedonian: три́колка (tríkolka) — cycle with three wheels
  • Macedonian: три́цикл (trícikl) — cycle with three wheels
  • Maltese: triċiklu — cycle with three wheels
  • Manx: tree-queeyllagh — cycle with three wheels
  • Norman: trais-reues — cycle with three wheels
  • Norwegian Bokmål: trehjulssykkel — cycle with three wheels
  • Occitan: tricicle — cycle with three wheels
  • Plautdietsch: Dreeroda — cycle with three wheels
  • Polish: trycykl — cycle with three wheels
  • Portuguese: triciclo — cycle with three wheels
  • Romanian: tricicletă — cycle with three wheels
  • Romanian: triciclu — cycle with three wheels
  • Russian: трёхколё́сный велосипе́д (trjoxkoljósnyj velosipéd) — cycle with three wheels
  • Russian: три́цикл (trícikl) — cycle with three wheels
  • Russian: трайк (trike) — cycle with three wheels
  • Serbo-Croatian: трицѝкл — cycle with three wheels
  • Serbo-Croatian: tricìkl — cycle with three wheels
  • Serbo-Croatian: trotočak — cycle with three wheels
  • Serbo-Croatian: trokolka — cycle with three wheels
  • Sicilian: tricìculu — cycle with three wheels
  • Sicilian: tri-roti — cycle with three wheels
  • Slovak: trojkolka — cycle with three wheels
  • Spanish: triciclo — cycle with three wheels
  • Spanish: tricicleta — cycle with three wheels
  • Swedish: trehjuling — cycle with three wheels
  • Tagalog: traysikel — cycle with three wheels
  • Tagalog: trisiklo — cycle with three wheels
  • Thai: สามล้อ (sǎam-lɔ́ɔ) — cycle with three wheels
  • Turkish: triportör — cycle with three wheels
  • Vietnamese: xe ba bánh — cycle with three wheels
  • Volapük: cilasaikul — cycle with three wheels
  • Volapük: kilaluib — cycle with three wheels
  • Welsh: treisicl — cycle with three wheels
  • Welsh: treisigl — cycle with three wheels
  • Polish: trycykl — Philippine rickshaw
  • Tagalog: traysikel — Philippine rickshaw
  • Tagalog: trisiklo — Philippine rickshaw
Real reading context

tricycle in complete knowledge articles