Auto

Forms

Auto n (genitive Autos, plural Autos)^[1]

Etymology

It is short for Automobil, borrowed from French automobile, and like the full word it follows a French model, auto.^[2][3][1] Kluge dates the short form to 1913, first as the first element of compounds, and the French one to 1910.^[2] The Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch has it from 1905, and the revised Grimm dictionary cites a plural from Karl Kraus in 1904.^[4][5]

The French adjective was formed in the 1860s on the model of locomobile, combining auto- (“self”), from Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós, “self”), with mobile (“movable”), from Latin mōbilis.^[6][3] It first described vehicles that moved “by themselves”, not drawn by horses: in 1875/76 the phrase voiture automobile named a tram driven by compressed air, and it was used for the car only from the mid-1890s, soon also as a noun.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A German text of 1893 describing France already uses the French plural Automobiles, but the word was really adopted only at the end of the 1890s, as adjective and as noun.^[6] The short form Auto came into use at the beginning of the 20th century for a motor vehicle for carrying people, recorded in 1904 and 1905.^[6][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The short form almost completely displaced Automobil, which survives mainly in compounds such as Automobilindustrie.^[6] Since the 1930s native words such as Kraftfahrzeug and Wagen have competed with it, especially in compounds.^[4] From the start it was a catchword, linked with speed, modernity and comfort, and, as cars became mass products, with progress and freedom, but also with danger and haste.^[4]

Hungarian took autó in 1909, and Hebrew has oto.^[7]

Timeline

• 1875/76 – French voiture automobile names a compressed-air tram.^[6]
• 1893 – French Automobiles in a German text.^[6]
• End of the 1890s – Automobil is adopted in German.^[6]
• 1904 – Karl Kraus writes autos.^[5]
• 1905 – Auto is recorded as short for Automobil.^[4]
• 1909 – Hungarian autó.^[7]
• 1913 – Kluge's date for the short form, in compounds.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A car, a motor vehicle on rubber tyres for carrying people or goods: mit dem Auto zur Arbeit fahren;^[8][1] Auto fahren “to drive”.^[8][1]
2. A toy car or a small vehicle for children.^[9]

Related words

• Automobil
• mobil
• English auto

Usage notes

Automobil was at first feminine, after French, but became neuter under the influence of Auto, which has the neuter gender of other foreign short forms in -o such as Kilo and Piano.^[6] The colloquial wie ein Auto gucken means “to stare in astonishment”.^[8] A separate Auto “a Spanish or Portuguese religious play in one act”, from Latin āctus (“act”), is a technical term of literary history.^[10][11][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 77
3. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
4. ^ a b c d e Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
5. ^ a b c Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 3, 1655
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
7. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
8. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
9. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
10. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
11. ^ Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag