Meanings
wheelwright1
plural wheelwrights
- historicalA person who builds and repairs wheels, especially wooden spoked ones.
Near-synonym: wheelsmith
1 more example
The wheels are the wright's distinguishing mark of his trade. It is the wheels that separate him off from the craft of carpenter: a wheelwright is equal to any job in the carpenter's craft but a carpenter cannot make a wheel [with commensurate quality and speed]. Percy Wilson [a wheelwright interviewed by the author] confessed that making the body of a Scotch cart—or of any vehicle for that matter—was a much simpler job than making the wheels […]
1971, George Ewart Evans, Tools of Their Trades: An Oral History of Men at Work c. 1900, Taplinger Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 32Synonyms: wheelmaker, wheelsmith
Wheelwright2
- A home rule-class city in Floyd County, Kentucky, United States.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person who builds and repairs wheels, especially wooden spoked ones.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishwhelwryghte
- Englishwheelwright
From Middle English whelwryghte; equivalent to wheel + wright.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans wielmaker
- wielmakerperson who builds and repairs wheels
Ancient Greek κυκλεύς
- κυκλεύς (kukleús)person who builds and repairs wheels
Bulgarian майстор каруцар
- майстор каруцар (majstor karucar)person who builds and repairs wheels
Catalan ruedero
- ruederoperson who builds and repairs wheels
Czech kolář
- kolářperson who builds and repairs wheels
Danish hjulmager
- hjulmagerperson who builds and repairs wheels
Dutch wagenmaker, wielmaker
- wagenmakerperson who builds and repairs wheels
- wielmakerperson who builds and repairs wheels
Esperanto ĉarfarado, veturilfarado
- ĉarfaradoperson who builds and repairs wheels
- veturilfaradoperson who builds and repairs wheels
Estonian ratassepp
- ratasseppperson who builds and repairs wheels
Finnish vaunuseppä, pyöräseppä
- vaunuseppäperson who builds and repairs wheels
- pyöräseppäperson who builds and repairs wheels
French charron
- charronperson who builds and repairs wheels
German Wagner, Radmacher
- Wagnerperson who builds and repairs wheels
- Radmacherperson who builds and repairs wheels
- Stellmacherperson who builds and repairs wheels
Greek τροχοτεχνίτης, τροχοποιός
- τροχοτεχνίτης (trochotechnítis)person who builds and repairs wheels
- τροχοποιός (trochopoiós)person who builds and repairs wheels
- ροδάς (rodás)person who builds and repairs wheels
- αμαξουργός (amaxourgós)person who builds and repairs wheels
Hungarian bognár, kerékgyártó
- bognárperson who builds and repairs wheels
- kerékgyártóperson who builds and repairs wheels
Irish rothadóir
- rothadóirperson who builds and repairs wheels
Italian carradore, carrettaio
- carradoreperson who builds and repairs wheels
- carrettaioperson who builds and repairs wheels
Japanese 車大工
- 車大工 (kurumadaiku)person who builds and repairs wheels
Latin rotārius, rotāria
- rotāriusperson who builds and repairs wheels
- rotāriaperson who builds and repairs wheels
Latvian ratnieks
- ratnieksperson who builds and repairs wheels
Lithuanian račius
- račiusperson who builds and repairs wheels
Norwegian Bokmål hjulmaker
- hjulmakerperson who builds and repairs wheels
Polish kołodziej
- kołodziejperson who builds and repairs wheels
Romanian caretaș, rotar
- caretașperson who builds and repairs wheels
- rotarperson who builds and repairs wheels
Russian колёсный ма́стер, коле́сник
- колёсный ма́стер (koljósnyj máster)person who builds and repairs wheels
- коле́сник (kolésnik)person who builds and repairs wheels
Scottish Gaelic rothadair, roithlear
- rothadairperson who builds and repairs wheels
- roithlearperson who builds and repairs wheels
- saor-chuidhleachanperson who builds and repairs wheels
Slovak kolár
- kolárperson who builds and repairs wheels
Spanish ruedero
- ruederoperson who builds and repairs wheels
Swedish hjulmakare
- hjulmakareperson who builds and repairs wheels
Ukrainian сте́льмах, колісни́к
- сте́льмах (stélʹmax)person who builds and repairs wheels
- колісни́к (kolisnýk)person who builds and repairs wheels
- колоді́й (kolodíj)person who builds and repairs wheels
Welsh saer troliau
- saer troliauperson who builds and repairs wheels
Cite this entry
wheelwright. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wheelwright
“wheelwright.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wheelwright. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wheelwright,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wheelwright.
Source: wheelwright on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.