English
movement
Movement comes from Middle English mevement, from Old French movement, from movoir ‘to move’ + -ment, from Latin moveō.
- 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’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400movoir‘to move’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400movement
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mevement
- Englishearliest quotation 1923movement
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’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400movoir‘to move’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400movement
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mevement
- Englishearliest quotation 1923movement
Earliest quotation: 1923, Samuel Goodwin Gant, Diseases of the Rectum: “when after a movement feces are streaked with blood…”
Formed from move + -ment
Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- ‘to move, drive’
…
Proto-Italic *moweō ‘to move’
Latin moveō ‘move’
Old Northern French mover ‘to move’
Middle English moven
English move
The story
In this sense, displaced native Old English styring, which led to Modern English stirring.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- ‘to move’
through Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh₁éyeti
automobile, automotive, promoter, immobile, emotionless, remover, 83 more
through Proto-Italic *moweō ‘to move’
mobile, auto, promote, emotional, motor, promotion, remote, remove, mobility, emotion, motive, motivate, momentum, motif, mobilization, mobilize, removable, mobilisation, motility, mobilise, motile, emote, 89 more
through Latin movēre
Today it means
noun Physical motion between points in space.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- / movement