bicycle
\bi.sikl\
The verdict
“bicycle” is uncommon French (frequency #58,453 among 4,251 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #58,453
- frequency rank, French
- 4,251
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Appareil de locomotion formé de deux roues d’inégale dimension et actionné par des pédales qui communiquent directement leur mouvement à la roue avant. Cet appareil a été remplacé par la bicyclette.
Corpus desk
Index FR-bicycle · bicycle · French
bicycle · rank #58,453 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #58,453
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,251
- PHOTO-FINISH biométrie
Nearest frequency peer: biométrie (+1 rank slots)
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Rangs de longue queue près de « bicycle »
Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court
- Berton
Berton
41,551 corpus weight
- Besnard
Besnard
41,550 corpus weight
- bicycle
bicycle
41,548 corpus weight
- biométrie
biométrie
41,547 corpus weight
- birdy
birdy
41,546 corpus weight
- blanchâtres
blanchâtres
41,545 corpus weight
What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « bicycle » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bicycle |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \bi.sikl\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #58,453 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « bicycle » en français
Rare enough to double-check
bicycle is uncommon French at frequency #58,453 among 4,251 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \bi.sikl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
bicycle doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is bicycle, spelled B-I-C-Y-C-L-E.
Definition
- 1Appareil de locomotion formé de deux roues d’inégale dimension et actionné par des pédales qui communiquent directement leur mouvement à la roue avant. Cet appareil a été remplacé par la bicyclette.
- 2Bicyclette ; vélo.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bicycle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Je l'entends dans les mêmes bouches depuis la constitution de la Ligue pour l'éducation physique à propos des rallie-papier, du canotage et du bicycle.
Quelques rares originaux et qui ne craignaient point d’affronter les ricanements de leurs contemporains faisaient, seuls, usage de bicycles (comme on désignait les dites machines) et s’attiraient des piétons la spirituelle appellation d’imbéciles à roulettes !
This word in other languages
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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bicycle", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).