funicular meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

funicular

adj

Etymology From Latin fūniculus (“thinner cord”), diminutive from fūnis (“rope, cord”) + -culus. By surface analysis, funicul(us) + -ar.

Of, pertaining to, resembling, or powered by a rope or cable.

Medicine, Sciences Of or pertaining to the umbilical cord.

Biology, Botany, Natural sciences Having a fleshy covering of the seed formed from the funiculus, the attachment point of the seed.

Geometry, Mathematics, Sciences Synonym of catenary.

Derived terms: intrafunicular, perifunicular

funicular

noun

Etymology From Latin fūniculus (“thinner cord”), diminutive from fūnis (“rope, cord”) + -culus. By surface analysis, funicul(us) + -ar.

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 50: