Auto German · revision 35066

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping, borrowing|attested=1904|origins=grc αὐτός, la mōbilis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈaʊ̯to/, [ˈʔaʊ̯tʰoˑ]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Auto''' ''n'' (genitive Autos, plural Autos)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is short for [[Automobil]], [[bor|fr|automobile]], and like the full word it follows a French model, [[m|fr|auto]].^(Kluge 2011|77)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Wiktionary) Kluge dates the short form to 1913, first as the first element of compounds, and the French one to 1910.^(Kluge 2011|77) The Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch has it from 1905, and the revised Grimm dictionary cites a plural from Karl Kraus in 1904.^(DFWB)^(DWB2|3, 1655)

+

+ The French adjective was formed in the 1860s on the model of [[m|fr|locomobile]], combining [[m|fr|auto-|t=self]], from [[grc|αὐτός|tr=autós|t=self]], with [[m|fr|mobile|t=movable]], from [[la|mōbilis]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) It first described vehicles that moved “by themselves”, not drawn by horses: in 1875/76 the phrase [[m|fr|voiture automobile]] named a tram driven by compressed air, and it was used for the car only from the mid-1890s, soon also as a noun.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A German text of 1893 describing France already uses the French plural ''Automobiles'', but the word was really adopted only at the end of the 1890s, as adjective and as noun.^(Pfeifer 1993) The short form ''Auto'' came into use at the beginning of the 20th century for a motor vehicle for carrying people, recorded in 1904 and 1905.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DFWB)^(DWB2|3, 1655)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The short form almost completely displaced ''Automobil'', which survives mainly in compounds such as ''Automobilindustrie''.^(Pfeifer 1993) Since the 1930s native words such as ''Kraftfahrzeug'' and ''Wagen'' have competed with it, especially in compounds.^(DFWB) From the start it was a catchword, linked with speed, modernity and comfort, and, as cars became mass products, with progress and freedom, but also with danger and haste.^(DFWB)

+

+ Hungarian took ''autó'' in 1909, and Hebrew has ''oto''.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1875/76 – French ''voiture automobile'' names a compressed-air tram.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1893 – French ''Automobiles'' in a German text.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * End of the 1890s – ''Automobil'' is adopted in German.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1904 – Karl Kraus writes ''autos''.^(DWB2|3, 1655)

+ * 1905 – ''Auto'' is recorded as short for ''Automobil''.^(DFWB)

+ * 1909 – Hungarian ''autó''.^(LWP)

+ * 1913 – Kluge's date for the short form, in compounds.^(Kluge 2011|77)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|car]], a motor vehicle on rubber tyres for carrying people or goods: ''mit dem Auto zur Arbeit fahren'';^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''Auto fahren'' “to drive”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A toy car or a small vehicle for children.^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Automobil]]

+ * [[mobil]]

+ * [[en|auto]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Automobil'' was at first feminine, after French, but became neuter under the influence of ''Auto'', which has the neuter gender of other foreign short forms in ''-o'' such as ''Kilo'' and ''Piano''.^(Pfeifer 1993) The colloquial ''wie ein Auto gucken'' means “to stare in astonishment”.^(Duden GWDS 1999) A separate ''Auto'' “a Spanish or Portuguese religious play in one act”, from Latin [[m|la|āctus|t=act]], is a technical term of literary history.^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}