automobile

See also: Automobile and auto-mobile

English

An automobile.

Etymology

From French automobile, from Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós, “self”) + French mobile (“moving”), from Latin mōbilis (“movable”), equivalent to auto- (self) +‎ mobile.

Pronunciation

• (UK, General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.tə.məˌbiːl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.tə.məˌbil/, /ˌɔː.tə.məˈbil/, /ˌɔː.təˈmoʊ.bil/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɑː.tə.məˌbil/, /ˈɑː.tə.məˈbil/, /ˈɑː.təˈmoʊ.bil/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: au‧to‧mo‧bile

Noun

automobile (plural automobiles)

1. (US, Canada, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand) A type of motor vehicle designed to move on the ground under its own stored power and intended to carry a driver, a small number of additional passengers, and a very limited amount of other load. A car or motorcar.
   • 2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:

     Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident.

Usage notes

• The word automobile usually implies a car with seating for perhaps up to four or five passengers.
• A vehicle with more than six or seven seats is usually called a limousine, minivan, van, SUV, bus, etc.
• A vehicle devoted mainly to cargo is usually called a lorry, truck, or van.

Synonyms

• (passenger vehicle): auto, car, (British) motor, (British) motorcar
• See also Thesaurus:automobile

Meronyms

• See list of auto parts

Coordinate terms

• truck, van, bus, SUV, minivan, station wagon, sedan, coupe, convertible, sports car, racecar; wagon, cart, trailer, tractor; airplane, boat, ship

Derived terms

• antiautomobile
• automobile battery
• automobile car
• automobile graveyard
• automobileless
• automobile racing
• automobilery
• automobile-weed
• automobiliana
• automobilism
• automobilist
• automobility
• automobilization
• automobilize

 

Related terms

• automatic
• automotive

Descendants

• → Alabama: mobìlika
• → Hawaiian: ʻokomopila
• → Unami: hatëmopil

Translations

passenger vehicle

• Adyghe: машинэ (mašinɛ)
• Afrikaans: automobiel
• Albanian: automobil (sq) m, vetëlëvizës (sq) m, makinë (sq) f
• Amharic: መኪና (mäkina), አውቶሞቢል (ʾäwtomobil)
• Apache:

  Jicarilla: bíił

• Arabic: سَيَّارَة (ar) f (sayyāra), أُوتُومُوبِيل f (ʔotōmōbīl) (formal), عَرَبِيَّة (ar) f (ʕarabiyya) (regional)

  Egyptian Arabic: عَرَبِيَّة f (ʕarabiyya), أوتوموبيل f (ʔotōmōbīl)

  Gulf Arabic: سيارة f (sayyāra)

  Hijazi Arabic: سَيَّارَة f (sayyāra)

  Moroccan Arabic: طوموبيل f (ṭumubīl)

• Armenian: մեքենա (hy) (mekʻena), ավտոմեքենա (hy) (avtomekʻena), ավտո (hy) (avto), (colloquial) մաշնա (mašna), ավտոմոբիլ (hy) (avtomobil)
• Assamese: গাড়ী (gari)
• Asturian: automóvil m
• Azerbaijani: avtomobil (az), maşın
• Bashkir: автомобиль (avtomobilʹ)
• Basque: automobil (eu)
• Belarusian: аўтамабі́ль (be) m (aŭtamabílʹ), машы́на f (mašýna), аўтамашы́на f (aŭtamašýna), самахо́д m (samaxód), а́ўта n (áŭta)
• Bengali: গাড়ি (bn) (gaṛi), বাহন (bn) (bahon), স্বতশ্চলশকট্ (śotoścolśokoṭ‌), মোটরগাড়ি (bn) (mōṭorgaṛi)
• Bulgarian: автомоби́л (bg) m (avtomobíl), кола́ (bg) f (kolá)
• Burmese: ကား (my) (ka:), ယဉ် (my) (yany)
• Buryat: автомашина (avtomašina)
• Carpathian Rusyn: автомобі́л m (avtomobíl), авто n (avto)
• Catalan: automòbil (ca) m
• Cebuano: awto
• Chechen: автомобиль (avtomobilʲ), ворд (vord), машен (mašen)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 汽車／汽车 (yue) (hei³ ce¹)

  Dungan: машинэ (mašine), чичә (čičə)

  Hokkien: 自動車／自动车 (zh-min-nan) (chū-tōng-chhia), 風車／风车 (zh-min-nan) (hong-chhia), 汽車／汽车 (zh-min-nan) (khì-chhia)

  Mandarin: 汽車／汽车 (zh) (qìchē), 車／车 (zh) (chē), 機動車／机动车 (zh) (jīdòngchē)

• Chukchi: ковԓёргоор (kovḷjorgoor)
• Chuvash: автомобиль (avtomobilʹ)
• Cowlitz: məšín
• Crimean Tatar: avtomobil
• Czech: automobil (cs) m, auto (cs) n
• Danish: bil (da) c, automobil (da) c
• Dutch: automobiel (nl) m, auto (nl) m, motorrijtuig (nl) n
• Esperanto: aŭtomobilo (eo), aŭto (eo)
• Estonian: auto (et), automobiil, masin (slang)
• Finnish: auto (fi), henkilöauto (fi); automobiili (fi) (archaic)
• French: voiture (fr) f, auto (fr) f, automobile (fr) f, char (fr) m (Canada)
• Galician: automóbil (gl) m
• Georgian: ავტომობილი (ka) m (avṭomobili)
• German: Automobil (de) n, Auto (de) n, Kraftfahrzeug (de) n, Personenwagen (de) m, Kraftwagen (de) m, Personenkraftwagen (de) m, PKW (de) m, Pkw (de) m, Wagen (de) m
• Greek: αυτοκίνητο (el) (aftokínito)
• Gujarati: મોટરગાડી (moṭargāḍī), કાર (kār), ગાડી (gāḍī)
• Haitian Creole: otomobil
• Hausa: mota (ha)
• Havasupai-Walapai-Yavapai: anbil
• Hebrew: מְכוֹנִית (he) f (m'khonít)
• Hindi: मोटरवाहन m (moṭarvāhan), गाड़ी (hi) f (gāṛī), कार (hi) f (kār), मोटर (hi) f (moṭar), मोटर-गाड़ी f (moṭar-gāṛī), मोटरगाड़ी f (moṭargāṛī), वाहन (hi) m (vāhan), मोटरकार f (moṭarkār), ऑटोमोबाइल f (ŏṭomobāil)
• Hungarian: autó (hu), automobil (hu), személygépkocsi (hu)
• Icelandic: bifreið (is) f, bíll (is) m
• Ido: automobilo (io)
• Indonesian: otomobil (id)
• Ingrian: automobili
• Ingush: автомобиль (avtomobilʲ)
• Interlingua: automobile, auto
• Irish: gluaisteán (ga) m, carr m, mótar m
• Italian: automobile (it) f, auto (it) f, macchina (it) f, vettura (it) f, autovettura (it) f
• Japanese: 自動車 (ja) (じどうしゃ, jidōsha), 乗用車 (ja) (じょうようしゃ, jōyōsha), 四輪車 (ja) (よんりんしゃ, yonrinsha), 車 (ja) (くるま, kuruma)
• Kannada: ವಾಹನ (kn) (vāhana), ಕಾರು (kn) (kāru)
• Kashubian: aùto n
• Kazakh: автомобиль (kk) (avtomobil), машина (kk) (maşina), автокөлік (avtokölık), автомашина (avtomaşina)
• Khmer: ឡាន (km) (laan), រថ (km) (rŭət)
• Korean: 자동차(自動車) (ko) (jadongcha), 차(車) (ko) (cha), 사륜차(四輪車) (ko) (saryuncha)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ئوتوموبیل (utumubîl), ترومبێل (trumbêl), سەیارە (ckb) (seyare)

  Northern Kurdish: otomobîl (ku), erebe (ku), maşîn (ku)

• Kyrgyz: автомобиль (ky) (avtomobil), машина (ky) (maşina), автомашина (ky) (avtomaşina)
• Lao: ລົດໃຫຍ່ (lot nyai), ລົດ (lo) (lot), ໂອໂຕ (ʼō tō)
• Latin: autocinetum n, autocurrus m, autovehiculum n, autoraeda f
• Latvian: automobilis m, automašīna f, spēkrats m (informal)
• Lezgi: автомобиль (avtomobil’)
• Lithuanian: automobilis (lt) m, mašina (lt) f
• Macedonian: автомоби́л (mk) m (avtomobíl), кола (mk) f (kola)
• Malay: automobil, kereta (ms)
• Malayalam: കാർ (ml) (kāṟ)
• Maltese: karozza (mt) f, vettura f
• Maori: motokā (mi)
• Marathi: मोटार n (moṭār), मोटारवाहन (moṭārvāhan)
• Mirandese: altemoble m, carro m
• Mohawk: kà:sere
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: автомашин (mn) (avtomašin), автомобиль (avtomobilʹ), машин (mn) (mašin)

• Nahuatl: tepozmalacatl (nah), teposkalnejnenki
• Navajo: chidí
• Nepali: मोटरगाडी (moṭaragāḍī)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bil (no) m

  Nynorsk: bil (nn) m

• Odia: କାର୍ (or) (kār)
• Ojibwe: odaabaan
• Ossetian: хӕдтулгӕ (xædtulgæ)
• Pashto: تېزرفتار m (tezraftār), موټر (ps) m (moṭar), خودرو (ps)
• Persian:

  Dari: موتَر (mōtar), خُودْرَو (fa) (xūdraw), خُودْرو (fa) (xūdrō)

  Iranian Persian: خودْرُو (fa) (xodrow), ماشین (fa) (mâšin), اُتومُبیل (fa) (otomobil)

• Plautdietsch: Koa f, Auto (nds) n
• Polish: samochód (pl) m, auto (pl) n, automobil (pl) m, fura (pl) f
• Portuguese: automóvel (pt) m, carro (pt) m, veículo (pt) m, auto (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਕਾਰ (pa) (kār)
• Romanian: automobil (ro) n, mașină (ro) f
• Russian: автомоби́ль (ru) m (avtomobílʹ), автомаши́на (ru) f (avtomašína), маши́на (ru) f (mašína) (informal), авто́ (ru) n (avtó) (colloquial), та́чка (ru) f (táčka) (slang), мото́р (ru) m (motór) (dated)
• Scots: motorcaur
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: аутомо̀бӣл m

  Roman: automòbīl (sh) m

• Sinhalese: මෝටර් රථ (mōṭar ratha)
• Slovak: automobil m, auto (sk) n
• Slovene: automobil m, avto (sl) m
• Somali: baabuur (so)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: awto n

  Upper Sorbian: awto (hsb) n

• Spanish: automóvil (es) m, carro (es) m, coche (es) m, auto (es) m
• Swahili: motakari bus, motokari bus, motokaa (sw) class 9/10, gari (sw) class 5/6
• Swedish: bil (sv) c
• Tagalog: awtomobil, isugang batlag, batlag, kotse (tl), awto
• Tajik: автомобил (avtomobil), мошин (tg) (mošin), автомошин (avtomošin), худрав (xudrav)
• Tamil: மோட்டார் (ta) (mōṭṭār), வண்டி (ta) (vaṇṭi)
• Tatar: автомобиль (awtomobil’), арба (tt) (arba)
• Telugu: మోటారు (te) (mōṭāru), కారు (te) (kāru), బండి (te) (baṇḍi)
• Thai: รถยนต์ (th) (rót-yon), รถ (th) (rót)
• Tibetan: ཆིས་ཁྲེའེ (chis khre'e)
• Tigrinya: ኣውቶሞቢል (ʾawtomobil), መኪና (mäkina)
• Tonkawa: ˀa·cosa·nan
• Turkish: otomobil (tr), araba (tr)
• Turkmen: maşyn, awtomobil (tk), awtomaşyn (tk)
• Tuvan: автомобиль (avtomobilʹ)
• Ukrainian: автомобі́ль (uk) m (avtomobílʹ), маши́на f (mašýna), автомаши́на (uk) f (avtomašýna), авто́ (uk) n (avtó)
• Unami: hatëmopil, amankshkinkw
• Urdu: گاڑی f (gāṛī), کار f (kār), آٹوموبِیل f (āṭomobīl)
• Uyghur: ئاپتوموبىل (aptomobil), ماشىنا (mashina)
• Uzbek: avtomobil (uz), avtomashina (uz), mashina (uz)
• Vietnamese: xe hơi (vi), ô tô (vi), xe (vi)
• Volapük: motoravab (vo), tood
• Yakut: массыына (massıına)
• Yiddish: אויטאָמאָביל n (oytomobil), אויטאָ m (oyto), מאַשין f (mashin)
• Zhuang: giceh

Verb

automobile (third-person singular simple present automobiles, present participle automobiling, simple past and past participle automobiled)

1. (intransitive, dated) To travel by automobile.
   • 1909, “"How Can He Do It?"”, in Notions and Fancy Goods, volume 43, page 30:

     The misguided youngsters are yachting, attending the races, playing the "stage Johnny," automobiling, playing poker for high stakes, overliving at home, on expensive shopping tours, attending box parties to the theatre, visiting high-priced restaurants, etc., etc.

Translations

to travel by automobile

• Finnish: autoilla (fi)

Adjective

automobile (not comparable)

1. Self-moving; self-propelled.

   Synonym: autokinetic

   • 1919, Nikola Tesla, My Inventions:

     As early as 1898 I proposed to representatives of a large manufacturing concern the construction and public exhibition of an automobile carriage which, left to itself, would perform a great variety of operations involving something akin to judgment.

Translations

self-moving

• Finnish: auto- (fi)

French

Etymology

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós)

Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-)lbor.

French auto-

Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁-der.

Proto-Italic *moweō

Latin moveō

Latin -bilis

Latin mōbilislbor.

French mobile

French automobile

From auto- +‎ mobile, as the vehicle is powered by an engine rather than pulled by horses.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o.tɔ.mɔ.bil/, /ɔ.tɔ.mɔ.bil/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Homophone: automobiles
• Hyphenation: au‧to‧mo‧bile

Adjective

automobile (plural automobiles)

1. automotive

Noun

automobile f (plural automobiles)

1. automobile

   L’automobile est un moyen de déplacement pratique à la campagne, mais cher et polluant.

   The automobile is a practical means of travel in the countryside, but it's expensive and polluting.

Synonyms

• (informal) auto
• (France, informal) bagnole
• (France, informal) caisse
• (Quebec, Louisiana) char
• (France, informal) tire
• voiture

Derived terms

• automobilisable
• automobilisme
• automobiliste
• canot automobile

Descendants

• → Danish: automobil, bil
  • → Faroese: bilur
  • → Greenlandic: biili
  • → Icelandic: bíll
  • → Norwegian Bokmål: bil
  • → Norwegian Nynorsk: bil
  • → Swedish: bil
• → Dutch: automobiel
• → English: automobile
• → German: Automobil
• → Moroccan Arabic: طمبيل (ṭumubīl)
• → Russian: автомоби́ль (avtomobílʹ)
  • → Armenian: ավտոմոբիլ (avtomobil)
  • → Azerbaijani: avtomobil
  • → Georgian: ავტომობილი (avṭomobili)
  • → Ingrian: automobili
  • → Kazakh: автомобиль (avtomobil)
  • → Kyrgyz: автомобиль (avtomobil)
  • → Turkmen: awtomobil
  • → Uyghur: ئاپتوموبىل (aptomobil)
  • → Uzbek: avtomobil

Further reading

• “automobile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Diversi tipi di automobile.

Etymology

From auto- +‎ mobile.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aw.toˈmɔ.bi.le/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔbile
• Hyphenation: au‧to‧mò‧bi‧le

Noun

automobile f (plural automobili)

1. automobile

   Synonyms: auto, macchina, vettura