Other forms: tandems
A tandem is a bicycle built for two riders, one behind the other. Ride a tandem, on a tandem, a tandem bicycle.
The front rider steers and is called the captain; the back one is the stoker. Tandems are faster than a single bicycle on the flat because two engines push one set of wind resistance, and slower up hills. In tandem means working together. Note that tandem is a Latin joke — it means at length, applied to horses harnessed one behind another instead of side by side.
1nountandemA bicycle built for two riders one behind the other.
“The couple rode a tandem along the coast, pedalling together.”
2nounworkingWorking together, in the phrase in tandem.
“The two detectives worked in tandem to solve the case.”
tandem is a two-seat cycle.
Latin tandem means at last or at length, of time. English applied it jokingly to horses harnessed at length rather than abreast, and the pun became the word.
Proto-Indo-European
*téh₂m
Latin
tandem — of time: at last, at length, finally
English, today
tandem
Built from
The noun is borrowed from Latin tandem (“of time: at last, at length, finally”), applied humorously in English to two horses harnessed “at length” (that is, in a single line) instead of side-by-side. Tandem is derived from tam (“so, to such an extent”) + -dem. The adjective, adverb, and verb are derived from the noun.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Vehicles & Machines, Cycling