mobile English · revision 2732

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1490, Caxton|origins=la moveō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: adjective UK /ˈməʊ.baɪl/, US /ˈmoʊ.bəl/; noun UK /ˈməʊ.baɪl/, US /ˈmoʊ.biːl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|mobile]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[la|mōbilis|t=movable, easy to move; changeable, fickle]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a contraction of *movibilis, from [[m|la|movēre|t=to move]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) the source of [[move]],^(Cresswell 2021) from [[ine-pro|*meue-|t=to push away]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Capable of movement, not fixed: 1490, in Caxton's translation of the ''Eneydos''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The noun, the outermost sphere of the universe, the primum mobile, is from probably before 1430, in Lydgate.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 17th century ''mobile'', short for Latin mobile vulgus, “the fickle crowd”, meant the common people, the rabble (1600), and was shortened to [[mob]].^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The sense “easily moved” is from the 19th century.^(Hoad 1986) The sociological sense, able to move between social levels, is from the early 20th century, by 1927, as in ''upwardly mobile''.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The art form, a sculpture of balanced hanging parts that move in the air, is associated with Alexander Calder, from 1936 for ''mobile sculpture'' and 1939 for ''mobile''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Mobile home'' is from 1936.^(Etymonline) The ''mobile phone'' is first recorded in the US in 1945 in Word Origins, but only became widely available in the 1980s;^(Cresswell 2021) Etymonline dates the term to 1983.^(Etymonline) In Britain ''a mobile'' is now usually such a phone, where Americans say ''cellphone''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1430 – noun, the primum mobile.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1490 – capable of movement.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1600 – noun, the rabble.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1927 – socially mobile.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1936 – ''mobile home'' and ''mobile sculpture''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1945 – ''mobile phone''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Able to move or be moved easily from place to place.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Able to change quickly in mood or expression; [[fluid]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Able to move between social classes or jobs: ''upwardly mobile''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Travelling or operating from a vehicle: ''a mobile library''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sculpture of balanced parts hung so as to move in the air.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(chiefly British)'' A [[mobile phone]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mobility]]

+ * [[airmobile]]

+ * [[semimobile]]

+ * [[nonmobile]]

+ * [[mob]]

+ * [[mobile phone]]

+ * [[mobile home]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mobilization]]

+ * [[mobilize]]

+ * [[move]]

+ * [[automobile]]

+ * [[motion]]

+ * [[immobile]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The city of [[Mobile]], Alabama, is a separate word, recorded in Spanish about 1540 as Mauvila, the name of an Indian people, perhaps from Choctaw moeli “to paddle”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}