motor
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology
From Middle English motour (“controller, prime mover; God”), from Latin mōtor (“mover; that which moves something”), from mōtō (“I set in motion”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈməʊtə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmoʊtəɹ/, [ˈmoʊɾɚ]
Audio (US): (file) - Hyphenation: mo‧tor
- Rhymes: -əʊtə(ɹ)
Noun
motor (plural motors)
- A machine or device that converts other energy forms into mechanical energy, or imparts motion.
- (colloquial) A motor car, or automobile, even a goods vehicle.
- Nice motor!
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “His Own People”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 6:
- It was flood-tide along Fifth Avenue; motor, brougham, and victoria swept by on the glittering current; pretty women glanced out from limousine and tonneau; young men of his own type, silk-hatted, frock-coated, the crooks of their walking sticks tucked up under their left arms, passed on the Park side.
- 1918, Edith Wharton, chapter I, in The Marne, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 1:
- Every since the age of six Troy Belknap of New York had embarked for Europe every June on the fastest steamer of one of the most expensive lines. With his family he had descended at the dock from a large noiseless motor, had kissed his father good-bye, turned back to shake hands with the chauffeur (a particular friend), and trotted up the gang-plank behind his mother's maid, [...]
- 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed:
- 'However, you go and try your luck and see how you like it.' With that he flung himself into his motor and was off.
- 1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XXII, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 214:
- The screeching of brakes, the monotonous blare of motor horns, the clip-clip of shoes on slippery pavements, the rustling of wet mackintoshes were all part of the great metropolis.
- 1944 November and December, T. F. Cameron, “Motor and Cartage Working”, in Railway Magazine, page 338:
- Goods motors for which "A" licences are held are free to operate anywhere, to pick up the most remunerative traffic, and the points between which the best back loads are available.
- (figuratively) A source of power for something; an inspiration; a driving force.
- Any protein capable of converting chemical energy into mechanical work.
- (Christianity, archaic, poetic) The controller or prime mover of the universe; God.
- (prison slang) The fermenting mass of fruit that is the basis of pruno, or "prison wine".
- Synonym: kicker
Alternative forms
- motour (obsolete)
Synonyms
Derived terms
- aeromotor
- affectomotor
- agrimotor
- air motor
- arteriomotor
- audiomotor
- bimotor
- Brownian motor
- coastal motor boat
- corticomotor
- crate motor
- depressomotor
- diesel motor
- dorsomotor
- driving motor
- electric motor
- electromotor
- extramotor
- fine motor skill
- gearmotor
- graphomotor
- gross motor skill
- hydromotor
- hypermotor
- hysteresis motor
- ideomotor
- idiomotor
- induction motor
- kick motor
- linear motor
- magnetomotor
- micromotor
- monomotor
- Motability
- motel
- motopia
- motorable
- motorail
- motor-ambulance
- motor aphasia
- motoraxon
- motor banca
- motorbicycle
- motorbike
- motorboard
- motor boat, motorboat
- motorbus
- motorcab
- motorcade
- motorcamp
- motorcar
- motor caravan
- motorcaravan
- motor coach
- motor-coach
- motorcoach
- motor cop
- motor cortex
- motor court
- motor cruiser
- motor-cycle
- motor cycle
- motorcycle
- motorcyclist
- motordom
- motordrome
- motor factor
- motor glider
- motorhand
- motorhead
- motor-home
- motor home, motorhome
- motor hotel
- motorial
- motor inn
- motor insurance
- motorise
- motorism
- motorist
- motorize
- motorjet
- motorkhana
- motorless
- motorlike
- motor lodge
- motorman
- motormania
- motor mount
- motormouthed
- motor mouth, motormouth, motor-mouth
- motorneer
- motor nerve
- motor neuron
- motor neuron disease
- motor neurone disease
- motor oil
- Motorola
- motorpathy
- motorphobe
- motorphobia
- motorphone
- motorplex
- motor plow
- motor pool
- motor protein
- motor pulley
- motor racing
- motor sailer
- motorsailer
- motor scooter
- motor ship
- motor show
- motor spirit
- motorsport
- motorsports
- motor station
- motor theory
- motor torpedo boat
- motor trade
- motor truck
- motortruck
- motor unit
- motor-van
- motor variable
- motor vehicle
- motor vessel
- motor voter
- motorway
- motor yacht
- Motown
- multimotor
- musculomotor
- nanomotor
- neuromotor
- nonmotor
- olfactomotor
- optomotor
- oromotor
- outboard motor
- paramotor
- pedomotor
- phonomotor
- photomotor
- pilomotor
- pony motor
- premotor
- primus motor
- propriomotor
- pupillomotor
- railmotor, rail-motor, rail motor
- reluctance motor
- repulsion motor
- retinomotor
- rheomotor
- rocket motor
- sand motor
- secretomotor
- serro-motor
- shaded-pole motor
- skeletomotor
- somatomotor
- squirrel-cage motor
- starter motor
- stepping motor
- supplementary motor area
- synchronous motor
- telemotor
- traction motor
- trimotor
- tumble motor
- ullage motor
- vasomotor
- vestibulomotor
- vibromotor
- visceromotor
- visuomotor
- water motor
Related terms
Descendants
Translations
machine that converts other energy forms into mechanical energy
|
colloquial: motor car — see also automobile
figuratively: source of power; driving force
|
protein capable of converting chemical energy into mechanical work
|
Christianity: controller or prime mover of the universe — see also God
fermenting mass of fruit
Adjective
motor (not comparable)
- (biology) Relating to the ability to move.
- She has excellent motor skills.
- Relating to motor cars.
- Motor insurance is expensive for youngsters.
- (nautical) Propelled by an internal combustion engine (as opposed to a steam engine or turbine).
- 1915 June, “Many Yachts to Go in Commission”, in The American Marine Engineer:
- A motor yacht for its size has about 30 per cent more accommodations than a steamer of the same size.
Derived terms
Translations
biology: relating to ability to move
relating to motor cars
|
Verb
motor (third-person singular simple present motors, present participle motoring, simple past and past participle motored)
- (dated) To make a journey by motor vehicle; to drive.
- Synonym: moto
- On Saturday we motored down to Plymouth.
- 1944 November and December, T. F. Cameron, “Motor and Cartage Working”, in Railway Magazine, pages 336–337:
- The practice used to be for such consignments to be loaded as tranships to the large centre, but this involved rather slow transits, and to a considerable extent these consignments are now motored to the large centre, and in the average case the transit is improved by a day.
- (transitive, aviation) To rotate a jet engine or turboprop using the engine's starter, without introducing fuel into the engine.
- During startup, the engine should be motored for 20 to 30 seconds to allow the shafts to straighten out, as they may have become bowed under their own weight while the airplane was sitting on the ground.
- (informal, figurative) To progress at a brisk pace.
- Sales were slow at first, but now things are really motoring.
- 2023 November 15, Ian Prosser talks to Stefanie Foster, “A healthy person is a more productive person”, in RAIL, number 996, page 34:
- More recently, ORR has been developing its knowledge and skills in cyber and digital security. Prosser says this is really "motoring".
- (slang) To leave.
- I gotta motor.
Translations
informal: to move at a brisk pace
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References
Motor Neurons at Motor Units on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - “motor”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “motor”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
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