automobile
n. countablen. a car. You use this word when you want to sound more formal or technical than just saying 'car'.
n. a road vehicle, typically with four wheels, powered by an internal combustion engine or electric motor and able to carry a small number of people. Often used in technical, legal, or historical contexts rather than everyday conversation.
The first automobile changed how people travel.
The museum features a rare collection of early twentieth-century automobiles that still run perfectly.
While the term car is ubiquitous in daily speech, the word automobile remains the standard in legal statutes and insurance policies to define motor-driven passenger vehicles.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewder.? Proto-Indo-European *sóder.? Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewder. Ancient Greek αὖ (aû) Ancient Greek τόν (tón)? Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós) Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-)lbor. French auto- Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁-der. Proto-Italic *moweō Latin moveō Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin mōbilislbor. French mobile French automobilebor. English automobile From French automobile, from Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós, “self”) + French mobile (“moving”), from Latin mōbilis (“movable”), equivalent to auto- (“self”) + mobile.
Commonly used in North American English; in British English, 'motor car' or 'car' is preferred.