automobile
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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
- (chiefly US) A car: a self-propelled passenger vehicle, usually with four wheels and an internal-combustion engine.
Adjective
- Relating to automobiles; automotive.
Verb
- To travel or ride in an automobile.
Word family
- automobilist
- automobility
Related words
- automatic
- automotive
- auto
- auto-
- mobile
- motorcar
References
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press