bakfiets

Meanings

1. A bicycle or tricycle with a long wheelbase between the front wheel and handlebars holding a large box, originally used solely to transport goods but now also commonly for carrying young children.

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch bakfiets, from bak (“container such as a box, crate, tray, or tub”) + fiets (“bicycle”). Bak is derived from French bac (“vat; ferry”), possibly from Vulgar Latin *baccu (“container”), from Latin bacar (“type of wine glass”), possibly from Ancient Greek βῖκος (bîkos, “amphora”), possibly from Egyptian bꜣkt (“oil flask”). The etymology of fiets is uncertain; it is possibly derived from regional (southern Limburg) French vietse (“to run quickly”), possibly ultimately from vite (“(informal or obsolete) fast, quick”) (see further at that word). The plural form bakfietsen is borrowed from Dutch bakfietsen.