rickshaw

R1I1C3K5S1H4A1W4
/ˈɹɪkˌʃɔː/

noun

A two-wheeled carriage pulled along by a person.

Similar
jinrikisharicksha
OriginJapanese 力車 ← Middle Chinese 車 ← Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos →
UncommonScrabble 20
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Meanings

nounrickshaw (plural rickshaws)

plural rickshaws · alternative ricksha · alternative rikisha · alternative rikshaw · alternative 'rickshaw · alternative riksha · alternative ricsha

  1. A two-wheeled carriage pulled along by a person.
verbrickshaw (third-person singular simple present rickshaws, present participle rickshawing, simple past and past participle rickshawed)

present singular third person rickshaws · participle present rickshawing · participle past rickshawed · past rickshawed · alternative ricksha · alternative rikisha · alternative rikshaw · alternative 'rickshaw · alternative riksha · alternative ricsha

  1. To move someone by means of a rickshaw.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna small two-wheeled cart for one passenger; pulled by one person

Similar
jinrikisharicksha
Broader
cart
Also see
jinriksha

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Chinese人 (nyin)
  2. Middle Chinese力 (lik)
  3. Middle Chinese人力
  4. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-redup.
  5. Proto-Indo-European*kʷékʷlos
  6. Middle Chinese車
  7. Japanese人力車clip.
  8. Japanese力車
  9. Englishrickshaw

Borrowed from Japanese 力(りき)車(しゃ) (rikisha), a clipping of 人(じん)力(りき)車(しゃ) (jinrikisha), from Middle Chinese 人力 (nyin lik, “human power”) + 車 (t͡ʃʰæ, “cart”) (compare Mandarin 人力車 /人力车 (rénlìchē)).

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic رِيكْشَا
  • رِيكْشَا (rīkšā)two-wheeled carriage
Bengali রিকশা, রিক্সা
  • রিকশা (rikśa)two-wheeled carriage
  • রিক্সা (rikśa)two-wheeled carriage
Bulgarian ри́кша
  • ри́кша (ríkša)two-wheeled carriage
Chinese Cantonese 人力車 /人力车, 車仔 /车仔
  • 人力車 /人力车 (jan⁴ lik⁶ ce¹)two-wheeled carriage
  • 車仔 /车仔 (ce¹ zai²)two-wheeled carriage
  • 黃包車 /黄包车 (wong⁴ baau¹ ce¹)two-wheeled carriage
  • 東洋車 /东洋车 (dung¹ joeng⁴ ce¹)two-wheeled carriage
Chinese Mandarin 人力車 /人力车, 黃包車 /黄包车
  • 人力車 /人力车 (rénlìchē)two-wheeled carriage
  • 黃包車 /黄包车 (huángbāochē)two-wheeled carriage
  • 東洋車 /东洋车 (dōngyángchē)two-wheeled carriage
  • 洋車 /洋车 (yángchē)two-wheeled carriage
Czech rikša
  • rikšatwo-wheeled carriage
Danish rickshaw
  • rickshawtwo-wheeled carriage
Dutch riksja
  • riksjatwo-wheeled carriage
Esperanto rikiŝo
  • rikiŝotwo-wheeled carriage
Finnish riksa, rikša
  • riksatwo-wheeled carriage
  • rikšatwo-wheeled carriage
French pousse-pousse, rickshaw
  • pousse-poussetwo-wheeled carriage
  • rickshawtwo-wheeled carriage
German Rikscha
  • Rikschatwo-wheeled carriage
Greek δίτροχη χειράμαξα
  • δίτροχη χειράμαξα (dítrochi cheirámaxa)two-wheeled carriage
Hebrew רִיקְשָׁה
  • רִיקְשָׁה (ríksha)two-wheeled carriage
Hindi रिक्शा, रिक्षा
  • रिक्शा (rikśā)two-wheeled carriage
  • रिक्षा (rikṣā)two-wheeled carriage
Hungarian riksa
  • riksatwo-wheeled carriage
Indonesian angkong, langcia
  • angkongtwo-wheeled carriage
  • langciatwo-wheeled carriage
  • langcatwo-wheeled carriage
  • becaktwo-wheeled carriage
Italian risciò, rickshaw
  • risciòtwo-wheeled carriage
  • rickshawtwo-wheeled carriage
  • jinrikishatwo-wheeled carriage
Japanese 人力車, 人力
  • 人力車 (jinrikisha)two-wheeled carriage
  • 人力 (jinriki)two-wheeled carriage
  • 力車 (rikisha)two-wheeled carriage
Korean 인력거
  • 인력거 (illyeokgeo)two-wheeled carriage
Malay beca, lanca
  • becatwo-wheeled carriage
  • lancatwo-wheeled carriage
  • lanciatwo-wheeled carriage
Polish riksza, ryksza
  • rikszatwo-wheeled carriage
  • rykszatwo-wheeled carriage
Portuguese jinriquixá, riquixá
  • jinriquixátwo-wheeled carriage
  • riquixátwo-wheeled carriage
  • charretetwo-wheeled carriage
Punjabi ਰਿਕਸ਼ਾ
  • ਰਿਕਸ਼ਾ (rikśā)two-wheeled carriage
Romanian ricșă
  • ricșătwo-wheeled carriage
Russian ри́кша
  • ри́кша (ríkša)two-wheeled carriage
Slovak rikša
  • rikšatwo-wheeled carriage
Spanish rickshaw
  • rickshawtwo-wheeled carriage
Swedish riksha, rickshaw
  • rikshatwo-wheeled carriage
  • rickshawtwo-wheeled carriage
Thai รถลาก, สามล้อ
  • รถลาก (rót-lâak)two-wheeled carriage
  • สามล้อ (sǎam-lɔ́ɔ)two-wheeled carriage
Turkish çekçek
  • çekçektwo-wheeled carriage
Ukrainian ри́кша
  • ри́кша (rýkša)two-wheeled carriage
Urdu رِکْشَہ
  • رِکْشَہ (rikśa)two-wheeled carriage
Vietnamese xe kéo, xe tay
  • xe kéotwo-wheeled carriage
  • xe taytwo-wheeled carriage
Zulu ilisho
  • ilishotwo-wheeled carriage
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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