automobile

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈɔː.tə.mə.biːl/, US /ˈɑː.t̬ə.moʊ.biːl/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French automobile, an adjective of 1861 and a noun of 1890,^[2][3] formed from auto- (“self”), from Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós, “self”) (see auto-), and mobile (“moving”), from Latin mōbilis (“movable”), from moveō (“to move”) (see mobile).^[2][3][4] The French noun is short for véhicule automobile.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Self-moving, as an adjective, of electric traction cars: 1883.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a self-propelled motor vehicle, is from 1895.^[2][3][5] In its early years the French word competed with locomobile, and English had motorcar and autocar; an electric car was an electromobile (1899).^[3] The verb, to travel by car, is from 1898,^[5] as is automotive.^[2]

Timeline

• 1883 – self-moving (adjective).^[2][5]
• 1895 – a motor vehicle.^[2][5]
• 1898 – to automobile (verb); automotive.^[5][2]
• 1899 – electromobile.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (chiefly US) A car: a self-propelled passenger vehicle, usually with four wheels and an internal-combustion engine.

Adjective

1. Relating to automobiles; automotive.

Verb

1. To travel or ride in an automobile.

Word family

• automobilist
• automobility

Related words

• automatic
• automotive
• auto
• auto-
• mobile
• motorcar

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press