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Origin and history of driving-wheel

driving-wheel(n.)

in mechanics, "main wheel that communicates motion to others," 1838, from drive (v.) + wheel (n.).

also from 1838

Entries linking to driving-wheel

drive(v.)

Old English drifan "to compel or urge to move, impel in some direction or manner; to hunt (deer), pursue; to rush against" (class I strong verb; past tense draf, past participle drifen), from Proto-Germanic *dreibanan (source also of Old Frisian driva "I lead, impel, drive (away)," Old Saxon driban, Dutch drijven, Old High German triban, German treiben, Old Norse drifa, Gothic dreiban "to drive"), perhaps from PIE root *dhreibh- "to drive, push," but it may be a Germanic isolated word.

Used in Old English of nails, ships, plows, vehicles, cattle; in Middle English of bargains. Meaning "compel or incite to action or condition of any kind" (drive mad) is by late 12c. Sense of "work with energy, labor actively" is c. 1200; that of "aim a blow" is by early 14c.. Transitive meaning "convey (someone) in a carriage," later an automobile, is from 1660s. The original sense of "pushing from behind" was altered in Modern English by application to automobiles. Related: Driving.

MILLER: "The more you drive, the less intelligent you are." ["Repo Man," 1984]
wheel(n.)

Middle English whele, disk or circular frame attached to the axle of a vehicle to help it go, from Old English hweol, hweogol, from Proto-Germanic *hwewlaz (source also of Old Norse hvel, Old Swedish hiughl, Old Frisian hwel, Middle Dutch weel), from PIE *kw(e)-kwl-o- "wheel, circle," suffixed, reduplicated form of root *kwel- (1) "revolve, move round; sojourn, dwell."

The figurative sense is by early 14c. To go on wheels in figurative use, implying rapid and continuous action, is by 1540s.

Also from c. 1200 as an instrument of torture, variously used. Of cheese made in a circular form by 1977. The phrase wheel of fortune is attested from early 15c. (the image of Fortune's wheel is in English from 12c.).

Wheels is by 1959 in slang as "automobile." Earlier wheels was "machinery," hence "motive power, principle of life." Wheel as slang for "important person, big shot" is by 1933, American English. The U.S. wheel-bug is so called by 1815.

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    bicycle
    1868, from bi- "two" + a Latinized form of Greek kyklos "circle, wheel" (see cycle (n.)), on the pattern of tricycle; both...The velocipede of 1869 was worked by treadles operating cranks on the axle oi the front wheel....This was modified in the earliest form of the bicycle by greatly increasing the relative size of the driving-wheel and bringing...was substituted indirect action upon the rear wheel, by means of a chain and sprocket-wheels .......
    rotary
    1731, from Medieval Latin rotarius "pertaining to wheels," from Latin rota "a wheel, a potter's wheel; wheel for torture,...root *ret- "to run, to turn, to roll" (source also of Sanskrit rathah "car, chariot;" Avestan ratho; Lithuanian ratas "wheel...," ritu "I roll;" Old Irish roth, Welsh rhod "carriage wheel")....The root also forms the common West Germanic word for "wheel" (originally "spoked wheel"): Old High German rad, German Rad...
    truckle
    "small wheel or roller," late 14c., from Anglo-French trocle, from Latin trochlea "a small wheel, sheaf of a pulley," from...Greek trokhileia "a system of pulleys," from trokhos "wheel," from trekhein "to run," from PIE root *dhregh- "to run" (source...also of Old Irish droch "wheel," Lithuanian drožti "to run fast")....
    repulsion
    early 15c., repulsioun, "driving away, repelling, repudiation," especially "divorce" (writ of repulsion), from Old French...Meaning "action of forcing or driving back" is attested from 1540s....
    explosion
    1620s, "action of driving out with violence and noise," from French explosion, from Latin explosionem (nominative explosio...) "a driving off by clapping," noun of action from past participle stem of explodere "drive out by clapping" (see explode...
    spoke
    "bar or rod inserted in the hub of a wheel to support the rim," Middle English spoke, spake, from Old English spaca "spoke...of a wheel, radius," related to spicing "large nail," from Proto-Germanic *spaikon (source also of Old Saxon speca, Old...Also extended to the rungs of ladders, and to a bar placed in the wheel of a vehicle to keep it from rolling (1580s, figurative...
    repercussion
    early 15c., repercussioun, "act of driving back," from Old French répercussion (14c.) or directly from Latin repercusionem...Originally in medicine (Chauliac) with a specific sense of "act of driving back humors."...
    look
    Old English locian "use the eyes for seeing, gaze, look, behold, spy," from West Germanic *lokjan (source also of Old Saxon lokon "see, look, spy," Middle Dutch loeken "to look," Old High German luogen, German dialectal lugen "to look out"), a word of unknown origin. Breton lagud
    discrimination
    1640s, "the making of distinctions, act of observing or marking a difference," from Late Latin discriminationem (nominative discriminatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of discriminare "to divide, separate" (see discriminate (v.)). Sense of "making invidious distincti
    belong
    mid-14c., "to go along with, properly relate to," from be- intensive prefix, + longen "to go," from Old English langian "pertain to, to go along with," which is of uncertain origin but perhaps related to the root of long (adj.). The senses of "be the property of" and "be a member

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