Etymology

freewheel

F4R1E1E1W4H4E1E1L1

Today it means: A device in a transmission that disengages the driveshaft from the driven shaft when the driven shaft rotates faster than the driveshaft. Full definition →

English wheel ← Middle English whel ← Old English hwēol
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*preyH-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*priHós
  3. Proto-Germanic*frijwaz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*friu
  5. Old Englishfrēo
  6. Middle Englishfre
  7. Englishfree
  8. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-redup.
  9. Proto-Indo-European*kʷekʷléh₂
  10. Proto-Germanic*hweulō
  11. Old Englishhwēol
  12. Middle Englishwhel
  13. Englishwheel
  14. English todayfreewheel

From free + wheel.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.