ENGLISH
REFERENCE

mobility

n.
US //moʊˈbɪɫəti// UK //məʊbˈɪlɪti// mo·bil·i·ty
  1. 1 physical movement (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Medicine

    the ability to move your body or parts of your body freely and easily.

    the capacity for physical movement, particularly the range of motion in joints or the ability of an individual to walk and travel independently.

    Example

    The athlete did daily exercises to improve the mobility in her hips.

    Example

    After the surgery, the patient worked closely with a physiotherapist to regain full mobility in his right leg before returning to work.

    Usage

    Often used with 'in' to specify a body part or 'of' for the person.
  2. 2 social status (n.)
    C1 Advanced Academic Sociology

    the ability for people to move to a higher or lower social or professional level.

    the movement of individuals, families, or groups through a system of social hierarchy or stratification.

    Example

    Education is often seen as the best way to achieve upward social mobility.

    Example

    The report suggests that social mobility has stalled in the region, as children from low-income families struggle to access high-paying professional careers.

    Usage

    Commonly paired with 'upward', 'downward', or 'social'.
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  1. 3 military movement (n.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Military

    the ability of a military group to move quickly to a new position.

    the quality of a military force that permits it to move from place to place while retaining its primary mission capabilities.

    Example

    The army used light vehicles to ensure high mobility in the desert.

    Example

    Modern warfare relies heavily on air mobility to deploy troops rapidly to remote locations where ground transport is impossible.
    • manoeuvrability
    • transportability
  2. 4 scientific movement (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Technical Science

    the speed or ease with which particles move through a liquid or gas.

    the ability of charged particles or molecules to move through a medium, often in response to an electric field.

    Example

    The mobility of the ions increased as the temperature of the liquid rose.

    Example

    Researchers measured the electron mobility within the new semiconductor material to determine its efficiency for high-speed computing.
  3. 5 the common people (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Archaic Humorous British English Slang

    a funny or old-fashioned way to talk about a large crowd of ordinary people.

    a humorous or derogatory term for the common people or a rabble, formed as a play on the word 'nobility'.

    Example

    The speaker was worried about how the mobility in the streets would react to the news.

    Example

    In the satirical pamphlet, the author mocks the 'mobility' for their fickle nature and lack of political sophistication.

    Teacher's tip

    This sense is extremely rare in modern English and is mostly found in 18th or 19th-century literature.
Etymology 1

From Middle French mobilité, and its source, Latin mōbilitās (“mobility”).

Etymology 2

Blend of mob + nobility

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