motor

Forms

motor (feminine motora, masculine plural motores, feminine plural motoras)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin motor (“one who moves”), an agent noun of moveō (“to move”) with the suffix -tor.^[2][1][3][4] The Diccionario de Autoridades calls it a purely Latin word, and Corominas lists it among the learned words of the family of mover, which Spanish inherited from Latin.^[5][6] The DTME dates it from 1590, and Corominas and Vox from the 17th century.^[7][6][8]

The Latin noun is rare in classical texts: Martial calls a man the one who rocked his cradle.^[3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The early records use the word for a person who sets something going: Autoridades quotes Solórzano on the king as el primer motor de la predicación “the prime mover of the preaching” to the infidels, and a Venezuelan document of 1642 calls some Guajiro Indians the motores “instigators” of a killing.^[5][10]

Semantic evolution

Until the mid-19th century the Academy defined motor only as movedor “mover”;^[11][12][13] Domínguez in 1846 already gave mechanical and anatomical uses (músculos motores).^[11][12][13] In 1869 the Academy defined it as one who moves physically or morally, with el primer motor “the prime mover”, God.^[14] In 1884 it became an adjective, “that produces movement”.^[15] The machine sense, “engine, motor”, is the main one today, and Román complained of the phrase motor a gas in Chilean newspapers.^[2][16] Figuratively the noun is the driving force of something, as tourism of a regional economy.^[17][1] The feminine motora names a small motorboat, and in Puerto Rico a motorcycle; in Cuba and the Dominican Republic the motorcycle is el motor.^[2][18][19]

Timeline

• 1590 – first record, according to the DTME.^[7]
• 1642 – motores “instigators” in a document from Venezuela.^[10]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it as movedor.^[5]
• 1786–1793 – Terreros gives the figurative use el primer motor de la guerra.^[20]
• 1846 – Domínguez records the mechanical and anatomical uses.^[13]
• 1869 – the Academy's dictionary adds el primer motor, God.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary makes it an adjective, “that produces movement”.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That moves or produces movement: la fuerza motora del viento.^[2][8]
2. (physiology) Of the structures that produce movement in the body: un nervio motor.^[17]

Noun

1. A motor or engine: a machine that turns another source of energy into movement, as motor eléctrico, motor de explosión.^[2][1]
2. (figurative) A driving force: La exportación es el motor del crecimiento.^[17][1]
3. el primer motor: the Prime Mover, God.^[2]
4. (computing) A backend, an engine.^[1]
5. (Cuba, Dominican Republic) A motorcycle.^[18][19]

Word family

• motorismo
• motorista
• motorizar

Related words

• mover
• motivo
• móvil
• Latin motor

Usage notes

The feminine of the adjective is motora or motriz (fuerza motriz); as a noun motora is a small motorboat, and in Puerto Rico a motorcycle.^[8][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. motor
3. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. motor
4. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. motor
5. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 618
6. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 169
7. ^ a b Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. motor
8. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. motor
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. motor
10. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 587
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 487
13. ^ a b c Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1229
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 524
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 722
16. ^ Román, Manuel Antonio (1901–1918), Diccionario de chilenismos y de otras voces y locuciones viciosas, 5 vols., Santiago de Chile: Imprenta de San José, p. 555
17. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. motor
18. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. motor
19. ^ a b Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org, p. s.v. motor
20. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 627