Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - funicular

 I. adjective  Etymology: Latin funiculus  Date: 1664  1. having the form of or associated with a cord usually under tension  2. New Latin funiculus of, relating to, or being a funiculus  3. of, relating to, or being a ~ a ~ system  II. noun  Date: 1911 a cable railway ascending a mountain; especially one in which an ascending car counterbalances a descending car