English
motile
Motile comes from Latin moveō ‘to move, stir, set in motion’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)ewh₁-‘to move’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)owh₁éyetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moweō‘to move’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoveō‘to move, stir, set in motion’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōtus
- Englishearliest quotation 1993motile
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)ewh₁-‘to move’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)owh₁éyetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moweō‘to move’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoveō‘to move, stir, set in motion’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōtus
- Englishearliest quotation 1993motile
Earliest quotation: 1993, Anthony Burgess, A Dead Man in Deptford: “It seemed to him that, if there were a…”
Formed from -ile
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- ‘to move’
through Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh₁éyeti
through Proto-Italic *moweō ‘to move’
move, momentum, automobile, promoter, immobile, emotionless, 86 more
through Latin moveō ‘to move, stir, set in motion’
auto, remove, mobile, promote, emotional, motor, remote, promotion, mobility, emotion, removable, mobilization, mobilize, mobilisation, mobilise, emote, 65 more
through Latin mōtus
Today it means
adj In organisms: having the power to move spontaneously.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- / motile