cycle (English)
Where does "cycle" come from?
The word 'cycle' reflects a deep history rooted in the Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos, a term denoting a wheel or circle derived from the verb 'to turn.' It traveled through the Ancient Greek 'kúklos' and Late Latin 'cyclus' before emerging in Middle English as a descriptor for fixed periods of time. Today, the term embodies this circular legacy, evolving from simple geometric shapes to represent a vast array of repeating processes and mechanical rotations.
Full etymology tree
- cycle (English), 'An interval of space or time in which one set of events or phenomena is completed.'
- inherited cicle (Middle English), 'A fixed length period of years'
- borrowed cyclus (Latin), 'a circle'
- borrowed κύκλος (kúklos) (Ancient Greek), 'circle, ring'
- inherited *kʷókʷlos (Proto-Hellenic)
- inherited *kʷékʷlos (Proto-Indo-European), 'wheel'
- derived *kʷel- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *kʷékʷlos (Proto-Indo-European), 'wheel'
- inherited *kʷókʷlos (Proto-Hellenic)
- borrowed κύκλος (kúklos) (Ancient Greek), 'circle, ring'
- borrowed cyclus (Latin), 'a circle'
- inherited cicle (Middle English), 'A fixed length period of years'
Direct ancestors
- cicle (Middle English)
- cyclus (Latin)
- κύκλος (Ancient Greek)
- kʷékʷlos (Proto-Indo-European)
- chakra (English)
- chakram (English)
- charkha (English)
- chukker (English)
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris