velocipede

velocipede
velocipedist, n.
/veuh los"euh peed'/, n.
1. a vehicle, usually having two or three wheels, that is propelled by the rider.
2. an early kind of bicycle or tricycle.
3. a light, three-wheeled, pedal-driven vehicle for railway inspection, used for carrying one person on a railroad track.
[1810-20; < F vélocipède bicycle, equiv. to véloci- ( < L, s. of velox quick) + -pède -PED]

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      version of the bicycle reinvented in the 1860s by the Michaux family of Paris. Its iron and wood construction and lack of springs earned it the nickname boneshaker. It was driven by pedaling cranks on the front axle. To increase the distance covered for each turn of the cranks, the front wheel was enlarged until, finally, in the ordinary, or penny-farthing, bicycle, the wheel would just go under the crotch of the rider. The penny-farthing nickname came from the smallest and largest British coins of the time, in reference to the disparity in the size of the wheels. By the second half of the 20th century, the original meaning was restricted to those knowledgeable in the history of the bicycle, while to others it referred to a children's tricycle, which duplicates the differentiated wheel size. The velocipede was eventually replaced by the more stable safety bicycle, having a chain-driven rear wheel.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • vélocipède — [ velɔsipɛd ] n. m. • 1829; « voiture rapide » 1804; du lat. velox « rapide » et pède ♦ Anciennt Appareil de locomotion, siège sur deux ou trois roues (mû d abord par la pression des pieds sur le sol, puis au moyen de pédales). ⇒ bicyclette, vélo …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Velocipede — Vélocipède Pour les articles homonymes, voir Vélo (homonymie). Vélocipédomanie Dessin humoristique français anonyme paru entre 1865 et 1870 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • velocipede — 1819, wheeled vehicle propelled by the feet on the ground, from Fr. vélocipède, from L. velox (gen. velocis) swift + pedem, acc. of pes foot (see FOOT (Cf. foot)). Applied to an early kind of bicycle or tricycle in 1849 …   Etymology dictionary

  • velocípede — adj. 2 g. 1. Que anda rapidamente ou que tem pés velozes. • s. m. 2. Aparelho com rodas que se põe em movimento por meio de um mecanismo movido pelos pés. 3. velocípede a motor: bicicleta motorizada.   ‣ Etimologia: veloci + pede …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • velocipede — [və läs′ə pēd΄] n. [Fr vélocipède < L velox (gen. velocis), swift, speedy (for IE base see WAY) + pes (gen. pedis), FOOT] 1. any of various early bicycles or tricycles 2. an old type of handcar for use on railroad tracks …   English World dictionary

  • Velocipede — Ve*loc i*pede, n. [L. velox, ocis, swift + pes, pedis, a foot. See {Velocity}, and {Foot}.] A light road carriage propelled by the feet of the rider. Originally it was propelled by striking the tips of the toes on the roadway, but commonly now by …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Velocipede — Velocipede, so v.w. Draisine …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • velocipede — /velo tʃipede/ [comp. del lat. velox ocis veloce e pes pedis piede ]. ■ agg., lett. [che ha il piede veloce, che è rapido nella corsa] ▶◀ (lett.) pieveloce. ■ s.m. 1. (trasp., disus.) [antico veicolo prototipo della bicicletta] ▶◀ [con ruota… …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • Vélocipède — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Vélo (homonymie). Vélocipédomanie Dessin humoristique français anonyme paru entre 1865 et 1870. Vélocipède est le nom f …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Velocipede — The velocipede was a series of human powered vehicles created in the Victorian age. There were designs with two, three and four wheels. Some two wheeled designs had pedals mounted on the front wheel, while three and four wheeled designs used… …   Wikipedia

  • Velocipede — Gebrauchsfahrrad Holzdraisine von ca. 1820, die Urform des heutigen Fahrrads und das erste Fortbewegungsmittel auf Grundlage des Zweiradprinzips …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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