Was "bicycle" ever pronounced "bi-cycle" and if so where and when?
What's the source?
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No. It has always been pronounced BAI-SI-KL in English. It comes from French 'bicycle' which was pronounced /bi.sikl/ [Wikitionary]. – Decapitated Soul Mar 08 '21 at 18:52
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@DecapitatedSoul Did French used to have the non-diminuative 'bicycle' but replce it with "bicyclette" at some stage? – BoldBen Mar 09 '21 at 01:18
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@BoldBen: No clue. Wikitionary doesn't give much info about that – Decapitated Soul Mar 09 '21 at 04:48
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It appears to be French in origin - at least, this is the first attested use in print. And it appears always to have been one word.
See here: https://www.etymonline.com/word/bicycle and here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle#Etymology
Sunnyjohn
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1I think the question is more on pronunciation rather than the written form. – user 66974 Mar 08 '21 at 19:13
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