moteur French · revision 17527

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1377, Oresme|origins=la moveō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɔ.tœʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /mo.tœʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''moteur''' ''m'' (plural moteurs)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|mōtor|t=one who moves]], from the supine of [[m|la|moveō|t=to move]] (see [[mouvoir]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|6/3, 162a) Medieval Latin used [[m|la-med|mōtor prīmus]] in philosophy for the one who gives a thing its motion (12th century), and the feminine [[m|la-med|mōtrīx]] (about 1250).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The French word drove out Middle French [[m|frm|mouveur]] (about 1380–1572) and Old French [[m|fro|mouveresse|t=instigator]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Oresme (1377) uses it for what causes motion, as in ''premier moteur'', the prime mover, and for a person who makes others act, ''principal moteur''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Du Bellay (1558) has it as an adjective, “that gives motion”; anatomy took up ''muscle moteur'' and the motor nerves in 1771.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) A machine that uses a source of energy to produce motion is called a ''moteur'' in 1744, but the modern sense came with the gas engine (''moteur à gaz'', 1826) and the internal combustion engine (''moteur à explosion'', 1884).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ In 1784 a newspaper used it, after English, for the proposer of a motion.^(BHVF) In African French it also means a moped, in Lebanese French a generator, and in computing ''moteur de recherche'' is a search engine (about 1990).^(DHLF 1992) The film director's call ''silence, moteur, action !'' starts the camera.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1377 – ''Premier moteur'', in Oresme.^(TLFi)

+ * 1558 – Adjective, in Du Bellay.^(TLFi)

+ * 1744 – A machine producing motion.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1771 – ''Muscle moteur''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1826 – ''Moteur à gaz''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1884 – ''Moteur à explosion''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1990 – ''Moteur de recherche''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|engine]], a [[m|en|motor]]: ''moteur à explosion'', ''moteur électrique''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A driving force; a person who leads or instigates: ''elle est le moteur de l'entreprise''.^(Le Robert)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(philosophy, dated)'' The first cause of motion: ''le premier moteur''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(computing)'' ''Moteur de recherche'': a [[m|en|search engine]].^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # (feminine ''motrice'') Producing motion: ''force motrice'', ''roue motrice'', ''nerfs moteurs'', motor nerves.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[motoriser]]

+ * [[locomoteur]]

+ * [[vasomoteur]]

+ * [[motrice]]

+ * [[motricité]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mouvoir]]

+ * [[motif]]

+ * [[motion]]

+ * [[la|mōtor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}