motorcycle

[ˈməʊtə(r)saɪkl]

/[ˈməʊtə(r)saɪkl]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“motorcycle” is an uncommon German word, ranked #74,895 in German word frequency and used as a noun.

#74,895
frequency rank, German
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - das (schnelle) motorisierte Zweirad (ohne Pedale)

Key facts for motorcycle
PropertyValue
Headwordmotorcycle
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈməʊtə(r)saɪkl]
Letters10
Frequency rank#74,895
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “motorcycle” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). motorcycle lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for motorcycle is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈməʊtə(r)saɪkl]. Corpus data places it at rank #74,895 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "das (schnelle) motorisierte Zweirad (ohne Pedale)".

motorcycle has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is motorcycle, spelled M-O-T-O-R-C-Y-C-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    das (schnelle) motorisierte Zweirad (ohne Pedale)

Synonyms

motorbike

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "motorcycle"?
"motorcycle" is spelled M-O-T-O-R-C-Y-C-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈməʊtə(r)saɪkl].
What does "motorcycle" mean?
As a noun, "motorcycle" means: das (schnelle) motorisierte Zweirad (ohne Pedale)
How do you pronounce "motorcycle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "motorcycle" is [ˈməʊtə(r)saɪkl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "motorcycle" come from?
"motorcycle" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “motorcycle”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is M-O-T-O-R-C-Y-C-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ˈməʊtə(r)saɪkl] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list