As a noun, a pedal is a foot-operated lever, like the parts you push on a bicycle or the pedals in a car or piano. As a verb, it means to move a bicycle by pushing its pedals with your feet.
“Pedal” comes from French *pédale*, from Italian *pedale*, from Latin *pes, pedis*, meaning “foot.” It has always been tied to things operated by the foot.
The same Latin root *ped-* gives you “pedal,” “pedestrian,” and even “pedicure”—they’re all secretly about feet. A pedal is literally a “foot thing.” Your language quietly tags which body part does the work.
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