Meanings
- not comparablemedicineOf or pertaining to the umbilical cord.
- not comparablebiologyHaving a fleshy covering of the seed formed from the funiculus, the attachment point of the seed.
plural funiculars
- A particular type of rail transit system which ascends a steep urban or mountain incline, having usually two cars sharing a single pair of tracks, with the cars linked by a moving cable and an arrangement of pulleys such that the descending car assists in the hoisting of the ascending car, i.e. the two cars serve as counterweights for each other.
England's funiculars mostly hug the coast, and this is no coincidence. The development of the Victorian and Edwardian seaside resort played a central role in the uptake of funicular railways across England.
2021 January 13, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Spectacular funiculars”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 50Synonyms: funicular railway, cliff railway
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveSynonym of catenary.
nounA particular type of rail transit system which ascends a steep urban or mountain incline, having usually two cars sharing a single pair of tracks, with the cars linked by a moving cable and an arrangement of pulleys such that the descending car assists in the hoisting of the ascending car, i.e. the two cars serve as counterweights for each other.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna railway up the side of a mountain pulled by a moving cable and having counterbalancing ascending and descending cars
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinfūniculus“thinner cord”
- Englishfunicular
From Latin fūniculus (“thinner cord”), diminutive from fūnis (“rope, cord”) + -culus. By surface analysis, funicul(us) + -ar.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic سِكَّة حَدِيد مُعَلَّقَة, سِكَّة حَدِيد وَتَرِيَّة
- سِكَّة حَدِيد مُعَلَّقَة (sikkat ḥadīd muʕallaqa)rail transit system
- سِكَّة حَدِيد وَتَرِيَّة (sikkat ḥadīd watariyya)rail transit system
Basque funikular
- funikularrail transit system
Bulgarian въ̀жен, въ̀жена лѝния
- въ̀жен (vằžen)powered by a rope or cable
- въ̀жена лѝния (vằžena lìnija)rail transit system
- фуникуле́р (funikulér)rail transit system
Catalan funicular, funicular
- funicularpowered by a rope or cable
- funicularrail transit system
Chinese Mandarin 纜索鐵路 /缆索铁路
- 纜索鐵路 /缆索铁路 (lǎnsuǒ tiělù)rail transit system
Czech pozemní lanovka
- pozemní lanovkarail transit system
Danish kabeldrevet, kabelbane
- kabeldrevetpowered by a rope or cable
- kabelbanerail transit system
Dutch funiculaire, kabelbaan
- funiculairerail transit system
- kabelbaanrail transit system
- kabelspoorbaanrail transit system
Esperanto funikularo
- funikularorail transit system
Finnish kiskoköysirata, funikulaari
- kiskoköysiratarail transit system
- funikulaarirail transit system
French funiculaire, funiculaire
- funiculairepowered by a rope or cable
- funiculairerail transit system
German Standseilbahn
- Standseilbahnrail transit system
Hindi रज्जुरेल
- रज्जुरेल (rajjurel)rail transit system
Hungarian siklóvasút
- siklóvasútrail transit system
Icelandic fjallatoglest
- fjallatoglestrail transit system
Italian funicolare
- funicolarerail transit system
Japanese 鋼索鉄道, ケーブルカー
- 鋼索鉄道 (kōsaku tetsudō)rail transit system
- ケーブルカー (kēburu-kā)rail transit system
Korean 강삭철도
- 강삭철도 (gangsakcheoldo)rail transit system
Latvian funikulers, funikulieris
- funikulersrail transit system
- funikulierisrail transit system
Lithuanian funikulierius
- funikulieriusrail transit system
Norwegian Bokmål kabelbane
- kabelbanerail transit system
Polish funikular
- funikularrail transit system
Portuguese funicular, funicular
- funicularpowered by a rope or cable
- funicularrail transit system
Romanian funicular
- funicularrail transit system
Russian фуникулёр
- фуникулёр (funikuljór)rail transit system
Slovak pozemná lanovka
- pozemná lanovkarail transit system
Spanish funicular
- funicularrail transit system
Swedish bergbana
- bergbanarail transit system
Turkish füniküler, füniküler
- fünikülerpowered by a rope or cable
- fünikülerrail transit system
Ukrainian фунікуле́р
- фунікуле́р (funikulér)rail transit system
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with funicular
Cite this entry
funicular. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/funicular
“funicular.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/funicular. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “funicular,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/funicular.
Source: funicular on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.