Word.ws English Dictionary

bakfiets

Syllables: bak·fiets/ˈbækfiːts/US/ˈbækˌfits/

bakfiets noun: 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.

Noun

bakfiets (plural bakfietsen or bakfietses)

  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.
    • Utility bikes are the pickup trucks of the cycling world. […] Imported from the Netherlands, the Bakfiets brand is like a pedal-powered minivan for soccer moms.2007 November 5, Paul Tolme, “A Minivan With Real Pedal Power”, in Newsweek, page 65
    • Still commonly used and manufactured today, the bakfiets typically consists of a frame with a longer wheelbase and a large cargo container positioned either between the wheels or over the front wheel.2013, Alex Newson, “The cargo bike”, in Fifty Bicycles That Changed the World, Octopus, →ISBN

Synonyms of bakfiets

Forms of bakfiets

pluralbakfietsen
pluralbakfietses
alternative formbakfiet

Origin of bakfiets

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.

Questions about bakfiets

What does bakfiets mean?
Bakfiets means 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.
What part of speech is bakfiets?
Bakfiets is a noun.
How do you pronounce bakfiets?
Bakfiets is pronounced /ˈbækfiːts/ (UK).
What is the plural of bakfiets?
The plural of bakfiets is bakfietsen.

Words near bakfiets in the dictionary

  1. Bakewell puddings
  2. bakewell tart
  3. bakewell tarts
  4. bakewells
  5. bakfiet
  6. bakfiets
  7. bakfietsen
  8. bakfietses
  9. Bakgalagadi
  10. Bakgalagalis
  11. bakgat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bakfiets (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bakfiets.wav.

Cite this entry: “bakfiets.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bakfiets. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.