Etymograph

English

automotive

Automotive comes from Latin moveō ‘to move, stir, set in motion’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)ewh₁-‘to move’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)owh₁éyetireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moweō‘to move’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoveō‘to move, stir, set in motion’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōtus
  6. Late Latinmodernmōtīvum
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500motif
  8. English1500–presentmotive
  9. Englishearliest quotation 2006automotive

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)ewh₁-‘to move’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)owh₁éyetireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moweō‘to move’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoveō‘to move, stir, set in motion’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōtus
  6. Late Latinmodernmōtīvum
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500motif
  8. English1500–presentmotive
  9. Englishearliest quotation 2006automotive

Earliest quotation: 2006, Edwin Black: “But electric vehicles and the batteries that made them…”

A compound of auto- + motive

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew ‘again’

Ancient Greek αὖ ‘Again, anew, afresh, in turn’

Ancient Greek τόν

Ancient Greek αὐτός ‘self’

English auto-

Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- ‘to move’

…

Latin moveō ‘to move, stir, set in motion’

Latin mōtus

Late Latin mōtīvum

Middle English motif

English motive

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- ‘to move’

motion, remover, 84 more

through Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh₁éyeti

movement, mover, 85 more

through Proto-Italic *moweō ‘to move’

move, momentum, automobile, promoter, immobile, emotionless, 87 more

through Latin moveō ‘to move, stir, set in motion’

mobile, remove, emotional, promote, remote, motor, mobility, promotion, emotion, removable, mobilize, mobilization, mobilisation, mobilise, emote, 66 more

through Latin mōtus

motif, motility, motile, 18 more

through English motive

motivate, 8 more

Today it means

adj Having the ability to move by itself; self-propelled or self-propelling.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- / automotive

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