penny farthing

noun

penny farthing

noun

Etymology A reference to the relative sizes of the two wheels resembling that of the old British coins of the same name. Retronym for ordinary bicycle, coined after the invention of the safety bicycle that has since become the standard type of bicycle.

1

A type of bicycle popular in the 19th century, with the front wheel far larger than the rear one.

Synonyms
ordinary

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.