Word of the Day

: January 23, 2010

funicular

noun fyoo-NIK-yuh-ler

What It Means

: a cable railway ascending a mountain; especially : one in which an ascending car counterbalances a descending car

funicular in Context

"Situated in a gated community reachable by funicular, the resort's 181 guest rooms come with flat-screen TVs, nightly turndown service and, in suites, even a butler." (The New York Times, December 13, 2009)

Did You Know?

You may have fun on a funicular, but the word is not related to "fun" (which comes to us from an English dialect verb meaning "to hoax"). The noun "funicular" descends from an earlier adjective "funicular," meaning "relating to a cord under tension." It was also influenced by "funiculaire," a French word used for a type of railway that is dependent upon cables (or on "cords under tension"). Ultimately, these terms trace back to the Latin noun "funiculus," meaning "small rope." "Funicular" first appeared in print as an adjective in English in 1664; the noun has been with us since the early 20th century.