Meanings
nounyellow jersey (plural yellow jerseys)
plural yellow jerseys
- hobbiesEspecially in the Tour de France: the yellow shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time.
The evergreen Marianne Vos, a multiple world champion, crowned her illustrious career by taking her first yellow jersey in the Tour de France Femmes after emphatically winning stage two of the week-long race in Provins.
2022 July 25, Jeremy Whittle, “Marianne Vos takes yellow jersey on second stage of Tour de France Femmes”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Jul 2022 - broadlyhobbiesA cyclist who wears such a jersey or shirt; hence, the leader of a stage of a cycling race, or the winner of a cycling race.
The timing of the incident raised the question, almost certainly destined to remain unanswered, of whether, having allowed the escapers to pass by unhindered, the culprit had waited specifically for the yellow jersey group before sowing his mischief.
2012 July 15, Richard Williams, “Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2022
Origin
- Frenchmaillot jaune
- Englishyellow jersey
Calque of French maillot jaune: maillot (“jersey, shirt; vest”) + jaune (“yellow”, adjective).
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic قَمِيص أَصْفَر
- قَمِيص أَصْفَر (qamīṣ ʔaṣfar)yellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Basque maillot horia
- maillot horiayellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Catalan mallot groc
- mallot grocyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Chinese Mandarin 黃色領騎衫 /黄色领骑衫
- 黃色領騎衫 /黄色领骑衫 (huángsè lǐng qí shān)yellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Danish gule førertrøje
- gule førertrøjeyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Dutch gele trui
- gele truiyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Finnish keltapaita, maillot jaune
- keltapaitayellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
- maillot jauneyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
French maillot jaune
- maillot jauneyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
German Gelbes Trikot
- Gelbes Trikotyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Hungarian sárga trikó
- sárga trikóyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Irish geansaí buí
- geansaí buíyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Italian maglia gialla
- maglia giallayellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Japanese マイヨ・ジョーヌ
- マイヨ・ジョーヌ (maiyo jōnu)yellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Latin tunicula flāva
- tunicula flāvayellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Latvian dzeltenais krekliņš
- dzeltenais krekliņšyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Norwegian Bokmål gul trøye
- gul trøyeyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Persian پیراهن زرد, پیراهن طلایی
- پیراهن زرد (pirâhan-e zard)yellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
- پیراهن طلایی (pirâhan-e talâyi)yellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Polish żółta koszulka
- żółta koszulkayellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Portuguese camisa amarela, camiseta amarela
- camisa amarelayellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
- camiseta amarelayellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
- camisola amarelayellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Romanian tricou galben
- tricou galbenyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Russian жёлтая ма́йка
- жёлтая ма́йка (žóltaja májka)yellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Slovak žlté tričko
- žlté tričkoyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Spanish maillot amarillo
- maillot amarilloyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Swedish gul ledartröja
- gul ledartröjayellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Turkish sarı mayo
- sarı mayoyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Ukrainian жо́вта ма́йка
- жо́вта ма́йка (žóvta májka)yellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Welsh crys melyn
- crys melynyellow jersey or shirt worn by the leader of a stage of a cycling race, which is then awarded to the cyclist who wins the race with the fastest overall time
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with yellow jersey
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
yellow jersey. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yellow%20jersey
MLA
“yellow jersey.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yellow%20jersey. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yellow jersey,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yellow%20jersey.
Source: yellow jersey on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.