motor

Forms

motor n (plural motoare)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French moteur, the source all the dictionaries name.^[2][3][4][1] DEX 2009, MDA2, MDN and the DLR add German Motor, and DEX and the DLR also Latin mōtor (“mover”);^{[2][3][5][6][4]} DN only compares the German word.^{[2][3][5][6][4]}

The French word was borrowed in 1377 from the Latin one, “one who moves”, formed on the supine of moveō (“to move”);^[7] Medieval Latin philosophy called God the first mover.^[7] The same Latin verb gave Romanian mobil, moment and moțiune.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is Costinescu's dictionary of 1870.^[3] There the word means that which sets something in motion: God as the first mover of the universe, figuratively the moving spirit of an enterprise, and in mechanics what imparts motion.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Barcianu in 1886 gives the German Beweggrund “motive” and the force of a machine, and like Damé treats the word as masculine; Șăineanu's example is steam as a powerful motor.^[10][11][12] The noun of today is neuter, with the plural motoare, and means an engine; the adjective, plural motori, motoare, survives in anatomy and physics (nerv motor).^[2][13]

The figurative sense, the driving force of an action, is in the DLR from Maiorescu and Sbiera on.^[6] In colloquial use a motor is a motorcycle;^[14][3][15] MDA2 also has “car”, and Maramureș “automobile”.^[14][3][15] In slang îmi vâjâie motorul “my engine is roaring” means “my head aches”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1870 – motor “that which sets in motion”, in Costinescu's dictionary.^[9][3]
• 1886 – Barcianu glosses it with German Motor and Beweggrund.^[10]
• 2007 – motoare “motorcycles” in the press.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. An engine, a motor: a machine that turns some form of energy into mechanical energy to drive another machine or a vehicle;^[2][1] motor electric, motor termic.^[2][1]
2. (colloquial) A motorcycle;^[14][3][1] (popular) a car.^[14][3][1]
3. (figurative) The driving force of an action, a person or thing that spurs it on: Ea a fost motorul proiectului.^[2][5]

Adjective

1. That sets something in motion or controls a movement: nerv motor.^[2][13]

Related words

• motoraș
• motoreactor
• motoretă
• motorină
• motorist
• motoriza
• motorizare
• motorizat

Usage notes

The surname Motor is unrelated: Iordan takes it as a back-formation from motoran “dullard”, a word of obscure origin.^[16]

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 h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 677
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 65
4. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. motor
5. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. motor
6. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. motor
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
9. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 120
10. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 393
11. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. motor
12. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 411
13. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 133
14. ^ a b c d e Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. motór
15. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1925), Graiul și folklorul Maramureșului, București: Cultura Națională, p. 226
16. ^ Iordan, Iorgu (1983), Dicționar al numelor de familie românești, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 318