mobility
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Pronunciation
- IPA: /mə(ʊ)ˈbɪlɪti/ (UK); /moʊˈbɪlɪti/, /moʊˈbɪləti/ (US)[1]
Etymology
It is late Middle English, borrowed from Old French mobilité (“changeableness, fickleness”) and directly from Latin mōbilitās, mōbilitātem, activity, speed, figuratively changeableness,[2][3][4] from mōbilis, movable, easy to move (see mobile).[2][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
Ability to move or be moved: the early 15th century in Etymonline, 1490 in the OED.[2][5]
Semantic evolution
Freedom of movement of the limbs is from 1528,[5] and changeableness, fickleness, from 1567.[5] The ability of persons to move about is from 1777,[5] and in sociology the possibility of movement between social levels from 1900.[2] A different word, mobility, the mob or common people, formed on mob after nobility in the late 17th century, is now rare.[4]
Timeline
- 1490 – ability to move.[5]
- 1528 – freedom of the limbs.[5]
- 1567 – changeableness.[5]
- 1777 – movement of persons.[5]
- 1900 – social mobility.[2]
Modern meaning
Noun
- The quality of being mobile; the ability to move or be moved easily.
- (sociology) Movement of people between social classes or occupations.
Word family
- automobility
- intermobility
- upward mobility
- social mobility
Related words
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press