French word vélo is a shortened clipping of vélocipède.
While riding my Perraro Panda E-Trike, I often hear comments like "I like your bike!" or "J'aime ton vélo!"
Vélocipède: Coined from 2 Latin roots:
Velox (meaning "swift" or "fast")
Pes / pedem (meaning "foot")
Together, it means "swift foot" or "fast foot", describing early human-powered riding machines. As the technology improved and full pedal-powered bicycles became common, the bulky word vélocipède was shortened down to vélo.
Therefore, "J'aime ton vélo!" is appropriate for a trike, but "I like your bike!" is not.
