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Definition 2024

自転車 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 自轉車, counter 台, hiragana じてんしゃ, romaji jitensha, historical hiragana じてんしや)

(slang) チャリンコ ‎(charinko)
(slang) チャリ ‎(chari)
(slang) ママチャリ ‎(mamachari): a bicycle with extra baskets for groceries and children, generally ridden by young mothers

自転車横断帯 (じてんしゃおうだんたい, jitensha ōdantai) (road sign) bicycle crossing
自転車競技 (じてんしゃきょうぎ, jitensha kyōgi): a bicycle competition (race)
自転車競走 (じてんしゃきょうそう, jitensha kyōsō): a bicycle race
自転車操業 (じてんしゃそうぎょう, jitensha sōgyō): “bicycle operations” → a business model that requires regular infusions of external capital to remain viable (similar to riding a bicycle, as halting operations means immediate bankruptcy, much as stopping pedaling causes a bicycle rider to fall over)
自転車屋 (じてんしゃや, jitensha-ya): a bike shop, a bicycle store
自転車旅行 (じてんしゃりょこう, jitensha ryokō): a bicycle trip, bike touring

↑ 1997, Toshihiko Saitō, くるまたちの社会史: 人力車から自動車まで (Kuruma-tachi no Shakai-shi: Jinrikisha Kara Jidōsha Made, “A Social History of Cars: From Rickshaws to Automobiles”) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Chūōkōron-sha, ISBN 978-4121013460
1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
1 2 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3

Coined in Japan in 1870 in the Meiji period in reference to a patented tricycle design.^[1] Later used to refer to bicycles.

Compound of Sinitic-derived elements 自 ‎(ji, “self”) +‎ 転 ‎(ten, “rolling”, simplified modern form of 轉) +‎ 車 ‎(sha, “vehicle”).