Etymologically
Log in

motor

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 23:56. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈməʊ.tə/, US /ˈmoʊ.t̬ɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English motour, borrowed from Latin mōtor (“mover”),[2][3] an agent noun from mōtus, the past participle of movēre “to move”,[3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *meue- (“to push away”).[3] It is related to move, motion and motive.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A controller or prime mover, in reference to God: 1447 in Barnhart,[2] the mid-15th century in Etymonline.[3] In early use a motor was one who imparted motion.[5]

Semantic evolution

The part that starts motion in a mechanism is from 1586,[6][4] and an agent or force that produces mechanical motion from 1644 in the OED and 1664 in Barnhart.[6][2] A machine that supplies motive power is from 1856, in Emerson,[2][3] and the main modern sense dates from the mid-19th century.[5] The adjective, causing motion, is from 1823–1824,[4][2] and is used of nerves that carry impulses to the muscles.[7] With the automobile the word became short for motor car (1895), and the verb, to travel by car, is from 1896–1897.[2][3] Motorcycle is from 1896, motorist from 1896 in the OED, motorcade from 1913, on the model of cavalcade,[2] and motormouth from 1970.[3]

Timeline

  • 1447 – a prime mover, God.[2]
  • 1586 – the part that starts a mechanism.[6][4]
  • 1644 – a force producing motion.[6]
  • 1823 – adjective, causing motion.[4]
  • 1856 – a machine supplying power.[2][3]
  • 1895 – motor car.[2]
  • 1896 – verb, to travel by car, and motorcycle.[2][3]
  • 1913 – motorcade.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A machine that changes electricity or fuel into movement to drive something.
  2. (British, informal) A car.
  3. Something that produces or gives motion.

Adjective

  1. Driven by a motor, or relating to motor vehicles: the motor industry.
  2. Of nerves, carrying impulses from the brain or spinal cord to the muscles.
  3. Relating to movements of the body: motor skills.

Verb

  1. To travel by car.

Word family

  • motordom
  • motorless
  • motorbike
  • motorboat
  • motorbus
  • motorcycle
  • motorise
  • motorist

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 i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin