tweewieler

Tweewieler is a Dutch term that literally means "two-wheeler." It refers to a vehicle with two wheels and is most commonly used to denote bicycles. In everyday Dutch, people typically say fiets for a bicycle, while tweewieler appears more often in formal, technical, or insurance-related language. The term is understood in the Netherlands and in Dutch-speaking parts of Belgium to distinguish two-wheeled transport from three-wheeled or four-wheeled varieties.

In official and policy contexts, tweewieler serves as a generic category that can encompass different propulsion types, including human-powered bicycles and, depending on the jurisdiction, electric or motor-assisted two-wheelers. It is primarily associated with bicycles in common usage, but the broader classification can be applied where a neutral two-wheeler label is helpful, such as in regulations, safety standards, or comparative transport studies. The term helps avoid specifying a particular model or propulsion system.

Etymology and history: tweewieler combines twee (two) with wieler (wheeler), reflecting a simple classification of wheeled vehicles by the number of wheels. The concept has been part of Dutch-language transport terminology for many decades, aligning with other numerical vehicle categories like driewieler (three-wheeler) and vierwieler (four-wheeler). Today, tweewieler remains a neutral, inclusive label primarily used in technical, legal, and policy contexts, with fiets continuing as the everyday term for bicycles.