cycle
cyc·le/ˈsaɪ.kəl/noun, verb
cycle is spelled C-Y-C-L-E: 5 letters and 2 syllables (cyc·le). It appears 40 times per million words in written English, the 2,487th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cycle means “An interval of space or time in which one set of events or phenomena is completed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cycle is cycles.
How many letters and syllables are in cycle?
| Letters | 5: C-Y-C-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: cyc·le |
| In writing | 40 times per million words; the 2,487th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is cycle?
Cycle appears 40 times per million words in written English, the 2,487th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cycle?
- UK /ˈsaɪ.kəl/
- UK [ˈsaɪ.kɫ̩]
- US /ˈsaɪ.kəl/
Cycle has 2 syllables, split cyc·le in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cycle.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cycle
- cycles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cycling participle, present
- cycled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cycle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An interval of space or time in which one set of events or phenomena is completed.
the cycle of the seasons, or of the year
- 2
A complete rotation of anything.
- 3
A process that returns to its beginning and then repeats itself in the same sequence.
electoral cycle menstrual cycle news cycle
- 4
The members of the sequence formed by such a process.
- 5
A series of poems, songs or other works of art, typically longer than a trilogy.
The Ring of the Nibelung is a cycle of four operas by Richard Wagner.
- 6
A programme on a washing machine, dishwasher, or other such device.
Put the washing in on a warm cycle.
- 7
A single, a double, a triple, and a home run hit by the same player in the same game.
Jones hit for the cycle in the game.
- 8
A closed walk or path, with or without repeated vertices allowed.
- 9
A pedal-powered vehicle, such as a unicycle, bicycle, or tricycle, or a motorized vehicle that has either two or three wheels.
- 10
A bicycle.
verb
- 1
To go through a cycle or to put through a cycle.
- 2
To turn power off and back on
Avoid cycling the device unnecessarily.
- 3
To maintain a team's possession of the puck in the offensive zone by handling and passing the puck in a loop from the boards near the goal up the side boards and passing to back to the boards near the goal
They have their cycling game going tonight.
- 4
To ride a bicycle or other cycle.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cycle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Zyklus , Programm , Kreis , Rad fahren |
| French | faire du vélo, véloter, biker , tour , cycle , passer par un cycle |
| Portuguese | andar de bicicleta , ciclo |
| Spanish | ciclo , ciclear |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cycle come from?
From Middle English cicle (“fixed length period of years”), from Late Latin cyclus, from Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “circle”), from Proto-Hellenic *kúklos, *kʷókʷlos, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos (“circle, wheel”). Doublet of chakra, chakram, charkha, chukker, cyclus, kike, and wheel (see there for more).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).