bicyclic

B3I1C3Y4C3L1I1C3

adjective

Having two cycles.

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Meanings

adjectivebicyclic (not comparable)
  1. not comparableHaving two cycles.
  2. not comparablechemistryHaving two rings of atoms in the molecule; the rings may be fused, as in naphthalene, or separate, as in biphenyl.

    These geometries are almost reversed in the triplets. The 1,3-borazyne (III) shows more bicyclic character than the corresponding m-benzyne

    2006, PJ Fazen, LA Burke, “Theoretical studies of borazynes and azaborines”, in Inorganic chemistry, ACS Publications
    2 more examples

    […] substitution of a carboxylate would be expected to destabilize the dritterionic mesomer that contributes to the singlet valence bond description as the benzyne geometry becomes more bicyclic.

    2003, Journal of the American Chemical Society, volume 125, page 134

    On the basis of a comparison of calculated and measured IR data, the 2 B 2 state could undoubtedly be discarded in favor of a more bicyclic geometry

    2007, S Venkataramani, M Winkler, “Trifluoro‐1, 3, 5‐tridehydrobenzene”, in Angewandte Chemie, Wiley Online Library
nounbicyclic (plural bicyclics)

plural bicyclics

  1. physicalchemistryA bicyclic compound.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivehaving molecules consisting of two fused rings

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Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dwi-
  3. Proto-Italic*dwi-
  4. Latinbi-
  5. Englishbi-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-redup.
  7. Proto-Indo-European*kʷékʷlos
  8. Proto-Hellenic*kʷókʷlos
  9. Proto-Hellenic*kúklos
  10. Ancient Greekκύκλος (kúklos)
  11. Ancient Greekκυκλῐκός (kuklĭkós)
  12. Classical Latincyclicu
  13. Middle Frenchcyclique
  14. Frenchcyclique
  15. Classical Latincyclicus
  16. Englishcyclic
  17. Englishbicyclic

From bi- + cyclic.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bicyclic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bicyclic

MLA

“bicyclic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bicyclic. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bicyclic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bicyclic.

Source: bicyclic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.