derailleur
de·rail·leur/dəˈɹeɪləɹ/noun
derailleur is spelled D-E-R-A-I-L-L-E-U-R: 10 letters and 3 syllables (de·rail·leur). It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 84,254th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, derailleur means “A mechanism on a bicycle wheel used while cycling to move the bicycle chain from one sprocket (gear) to another, to change speeds” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of derailleur is derailleurs or dérailleurs.
How many letters and syllables are in derailleur?
| Letters | 10: D-E-R-A-I-L-L-E-U-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: de·rail·leur |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 84,254th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is derailleur?
Derailleur appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 84,254th 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 derailleur?
- UK /dɪˈɹeɪl(j)ə/
- US /dəˈɹeɪləɹ/
Derailleur has 3 syllables, split de·rail·leur in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-derailleur.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with derailleur?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as derailleur from its last stressed vowel (/eɪləɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of derailleur
- derailleurs plural
- dérailleur
- derailer
- dérailleurs plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does derailleur mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A mechanism on a bicycle wheel used while cycling to move the bicycle chain from one sprocket (gear) to another, to change speeds.
- 2
The entire gearset on a bicycle with such a mechanism.
noun
- 1
Alternative form of derailleur.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Derailleur in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense mechanism on a bicycle wheel used while cycling to move the bicycle chain from o:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dérailleur |
| German | Umwerfer, Schaltwerk |
| Portuguese | descarrilador, desviador |
| Spanish | cambio de marchas, descarrilador, desviador |
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 derailleur come from?
Unadapted borrowing from French dérailleur, from dérailler (“to derail”) + -eur (suffix forming masculine agent nouns from verbs). Dérailler is derived from dé- (prefix meaning ‘away; from; off’) + rail (“rail”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to righten; to straighten”)) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs). Doublet of derailer.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).