Etymology

wheelie

wheel·ie
W4H4E1E1L1I1E1

Today it means: An action or stunt where a bicycle, motorcycle, or other vehicle is ridden for a short period while it is standing only on its rear wheel or wheels. Full definition →

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

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-redup.
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kʷekʷléh₂
  3. Proto-Germanic*hweulō
  4. Old Englishhwēol
  5. Middle Englishwhel
  6. Englishwheel
  7. English todaywheelie

From wheel + -ie.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.