A 19th-century hybrid coinage combining Greek 'autós' (self) with Latin 'mōtīvus' (causing motion) — literally 'self-moving,' coined to describe the new technology of self-propelled vehicles.
Relating to motor vehicles; self-propelled or concerned with self-propelled machines
A hybrid coinage combining Greek 'autós' (self) with Latin 'mōtīvus' (of or causing motion), from 'mōtus,' the past participle of 'movēre' (to move). The word was coined in the 1870s during the early development of self-propelled vehicles, first appearing in print around 1876. It followed the earlier coinage 'automobile' (1880s in French, combining the same Greek 'autós' with Latin 'mobilis,' meaning