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cy·cle (sīkəl)
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n.
1. An interval of time during which a characteristic, often regularly repeated event or sequence of events occurs: Sunspots increase and decrease in intensity in an 11-year cycle.
2.
a. A single complete execution of a periodically repeated phenomenon: A year constitutes a cycle of the seasons.
b. A periodically repeated sequence of events: the cycle of birth, growth, and death; a cycle of reprisal and retaliation.
3. The orbit of a celestial body.
4. A long period of time; an age.
5.
a. The aggregate of traditional poems or stories organized around a central theme or hero: the Arthurian cycle.
b. A series of poems or songs on the same theme: Schubert's song cycles.
6. A bicycle, motorcycle, or similar vehicle.
7. Botany A circular or whorled arrangement of flower parts such as those of petals or sepals.
8. Baseball The achievement of hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in a single game.
v. cy·cled, cy·cling, cy·cles
v.intr.
1. To occur in or pass through a cycle.
2. To move in or as if in a cycle.
3. To ride a bicycle, motorcycle, or similar vehicle.
v.tr.
To use in or put through a cycle: cycled the heavily soiled laundry twice; cycling the recruits through eight weeks of basic training.

[Middle English cicle, from Late Latin cyclus, from Greek kuklos, circle; see kwel-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

cycler n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.