cycle

cycle · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kʷékʷlos“circle, wheel”
2. Proto-Hellenic · derived from*kúklos
3. Ancient Greek · derived fromκύκλος“circle”
4. Late Latin · derived fromcyclus
5. Middle English · inherited fromcicle“fixed length period of years”
6. English todaycycle

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).

cycle · noun, verb²

From -cycle (in bicycle, monocycle, and tricycle), perhaps associated with etymology 1. Compare French cycle in the same sense. The verb is either from the noun or a clipping of bicycle (verb).

Words from the same roots