What does "automobile" mean?

1. (self-moving) moving by its own power rather than being pulled by an animal.

automobile

adj.

US //ˈɔtəmoʊˌbiɫ// UK //ˈɔːtəməbˌiəl// au·to·mo·bile

1 self-moving (adj.)
C1 Advanced Technical Archaic Science

moving by its own power rather than being pulled by an animal.

self-propelling or self-moving; used historically to distinguish mechanical vehicles from horse-drawn ones.

Example

The inventor showed off his new automobile carriage to the amazed crowd.

Example

Early patents often described these machines as automobile apparatuses to emphasize that they required no external draft animals for propulsion.
- self propelled
- automatic
- manual

Origin

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.