Etymologically
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mobilis

Etymology and origin of the Latin word mobilis

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (moveō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈmoː.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɔː.bi.lis][1]

Forms

mōbilis (neuter mōbile, comparative mōbilior, adverb mōbiliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from moveō “to move” with the suffix -bilis, from *moubilis, Proto-Italic *moweðlis, with ⟨ou⟩ becoming long ⟨ō⟩.[1][2][3] Manuscripts often spell it ⟨mov-⟩.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, sum pernīx pedibus, manibus mōbilis “I am swift of foot and quick of hand”.[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant quick, nimble, of troops mobile, as in Livy, and of the mind lively.[2] Of things it meant moving, shifting, of speech rapid, and movable, as in Livy and Cicero.[2][6] It meant changeable, mutable, as in the Rhetorica ad Herennium and Cicero, and of persons fickle, easily swayed.[2] In law rēs mōbilēs were movables, as in Ulpian.[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant movable, mobile.[7] Medieval Latin used mōbilia for movable goods.[8] French meuble comes from it.[1] English mobile came in the late 15th century through Old French, and the slang English mob of the 1680s is a shortening of mobile “the common people”.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of nimble hands.[2][5]
  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of the changeable.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of mobile troops.[2][5]
  • late 15th century – English mobile is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Quick, nimble; of troops, mobile; of the mind, lively.[2]
  2. Moving, shifting; rapid.[2]
  3. Movable, mobile, rēs mōbilēs, movables.[2][6]
  4. Changeable; fickle.[2]

Word family

  • immōbilis
  • mōbilitās
  • mōbilitō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Mobilis.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/mobilis. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·