automobile

See also: Automobile and auto-mobile

English

An automobile.

Etymology

From French automobile, from Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós, “self”) + French mobile (“moving”), from Latin mōbilis (“movable”).

Pronunciation

• (noun, verb)
  • (UK, General Australian, General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.tə.məˌbiːl/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.tə.məˌbil/, /ˌɔː.tə.məˈbil/, /ˌɔː.təˈmoʊ.bil/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

  • Hyphenation: au‧to‧mo‧bile
• (adjective)
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɔː.təˈməʊˌbaɪ.əl/

Noun

automobile (plural automobiles)

1. (US, Canada) A type of vehicle designed to move on the ground under its own stored power and intended to carry a driver, a small number of additional passengers, and a very limited amount of other load. A car or motorcar.
   • 2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:

     Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident.

Usage notes

• The word automobile usually implies a car with seating for perhaps four or five passengers.
• A vehicle with more than six or seven seats is usually described as a limousine, minivan, van, SUV, bus, etc.

Synonyms

• (passenger vehicle): auto, car, (British) motor, (British) motorcar
• See also Thesaurus:automobile

Coordinate terms

• truck, van, bus, SUV, minivan, station wagon, sedan, coupe, convertible, sports car, racecar; wagon, cart, trailer, tractor; airplane, boat, ship

Related terms

• automatic
• automotive

Descendants

• → Alabama: mobìlika
• → Hawaiian: ʻokomopila
• → Unami: hatëmopil

Translations

passenger vehicle

• Adyghe: машинэ (māšină)
• Afrikaans: automobiel
• Albanian: automobil (sq) m, vetëlëvizës (sq) m, makinë (sq) f
• Amharic: መኪና (mäkina), አውቶሞቢል (ʾäwtomobil)
• Apache:

  Jicarilla: bíił

• Arabic: سَيَّارَة‎ (ar) f (sayyāra), أُوتُومُوبِيل‎ f (ʾotōmōbīl) (formal), عَرَبِيَّة‎ (ar) f (ʿarabiyya) (regional)

  Egyptian Arabic: عَرَبِيَّة‎ f (ʿarabiyya), أوتوموبيل‎ f (ʾotōmōbīl)

  Gulf Arabic: سيارة‎ f (sayyāra)

  Hijazi Arabic: سَيَّارَة‎ f (sayyāra)

  Moroccan Arabic: طوموبيل‎ f (ṭumubīl)

• Armenian: մեքենա (hy) (mekʿena), ավտոմեքենա (hy) (avtomekʿena), ավտո (hy) (avto), (colloquial) մաշնա (mašna), ավտոմոբիլ (hy) (avtomobil)
• Assamese: গাড়ী (gari)
• Asturian: automóvil m
• Azerbaijani: avtomobil (az), maşın
• Bashkir: автомобиль (avtomobil’)
• Basque: automobil (eu)
• Belarusian: аўтамабі́ль (be) m (aŭtamabílʹ), машы́на f (mašýna), аўтамашы́на f (aŭtamašýna), самахо́д m (samaxód), а́ўта n (áŭta)
• Bengali: গাড়ি (bn) (gaṛi), বাহন (bahôn), স্বতশ্চলশকট্‌ (śtôśclôśkôṭ‌), মোটরগাড়ি (moṭôrgaṛi)
• Bulgarian: автомоби́л (bg) m (avtomobíl), ко́ла (bg) f (kóla)
• Burmese: ကား (my) (ka:), ယဉ် (my) (yany)
• Buryat: автомашина (avtomašina)
• Catalan: automòbil (ca) m
• Cebuano: awto
• Chechen: автомобиль (awtomobil’), ворд (word), машен (mašen)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 汽車 (yue), 汽车 (hei³ ce¹)

  Dungan: машинэ (mašine), чичә (čičə)

  Mandarin: 汽車 (zh), 汽车 (zh) (qìchē), 車 (zh), 车 (zh) (chē), 機動車 (zh), 机动车 (zh) (jīdòngchē)

  Min Nan: 自動車 (zh-min-nan), 自动车 (chū-tōng-chhia), 風車 (zh-min-nan), 风车 (hong-chhia), 汽車 (zh-min-nan), 汽车 (khì-chhia)

• Chukchi: ковԓёргоор (kovḷjorgoor)
• Chuvash: автомобиль (avtomobilʹ)
• Crimean Tatar: avtomobil
• Czech: automobil (cs) m, auto (cs) n
• Danish: bil (da) c, automobil (da) c
• Dutch: automobiel (nl) m, auto (nl) m, motorrijtuig (nl) n
• Esperanto: aŭtomobilo (eo), aŭto (eo)
• Estonian: auto (et), automobiil, masin (slang)
• Finnish: auto (fi), henkilöauto (fi); automobiili (fi) (archaic)
• French: voiture (fr) f, auto (fr) f, automobile (fr) f, char (fr) m (Canada)
• Galician: automóbil (gl) m
• Georgian: ავტომობილი (ka) m (avṭomobili)
• German: Automobil (de) n, Auto (de) n, Kraftfahrzeug (de) n, Personenwagen (de) m, Kraftwagen (de) m, Personenkraftwagen (de) m, PKW (de) m, Pkw (de) m, Wagen (de) m
• Greek: αυτοκίνητο (el) (aftokínito)
• Gujarati: મોટરગાડી (moṭargāḍī), કાર (kār), ગાડી (gāḍī)
• Haitian Creole: otomobil
• Hausa: mota (ha)
• Havasupai-Walapai-Yavapai: anbil
• Hebrew: מְכוֹנִית‎ (he) f (m'khonít)
• Hindi: मोटरवाहन m (moṭarvāhan), गाड़ी (hi) f (gāṛī), कार (hi) f (kār), मोटर (hi) f (moṭar), मोटर-गाड़ी f (moṭar-gāṛī), मोटरगाड़ी f (moṭargāṛī), वाहन (hi) m (vāhan), मोटरकार f (moṭarkār), ऑटोमोबाइल f (ŏṭomobāil)
• Hungarian: autó (hu), automobil (hu), személygépkocsi (hu)
• Icelandic: bifreið (is) f, bíll (is) m
• Ido: automobilo (io)
• Indonesian: otomobil (id)
• Ingush: автомобиль (awtomobil’)
• Interlingua: automobile, auto
• Irish: gluaisteán (ga) m, carr m, mótar m
• Italian: automobile (it) f, auto (it) f, macchina (it) f, vettura (it) f, autovettura (it) f
• Japanese: 自動車 (ja) (じどうしゃ, jidōsha), 乗用車 (ja) (じょうようしゃ, jōyōsha), 四輪車 (よんりんしゃ, yonrinsha), 車 (ja) (くるま, kuruma)
• Kannada: ವಾಹನ (kn) (vāhana), ಕಾರು (kn) (kāru)
• Kashubian: aùto n
• Kazakh: автомобиль (kk) (avtomobïlʹ), машина (kk) (maşïna), автокөлік (avtokölik), автомашина (avtomaşïna)
• Khmer: ឡាន (km) (laan), រថ (km) (rŭət)
• Korean: 자동차(自動車) (ko) (jadongcha), 차(車) (ko) (cha), 사륜차(四輪車) (ko) (saryuncha)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ئوتوموبیل‎ (utumubîl), ترومبێل‎ (trumbêl), سەیارە‎ (seyare)

  Northern Kurdish: otomobîl (ku), erebe (ku), maşîn (ku)

• Kyrgyz: автомобиль (ky) (avtomobilʹ), машина (ky) (maşina), автомашина (ky) (avtomaşina)

• Lao: ລົດໃຫຍ່ (lot nyai), ລົດ (lo) (lot), ໂອໂຕ (ʼō tō)
• Latin: autocinetum n, autocurrus m, autovehiculum n, autoraeda f
• Latvian: automobilis m, automašīna f, spēkrats m (informal)
• Lezgi: автомобиль (avtomobil’)
• Lithuanian: automobilis (lt) m, mašina (lt) f
• Macedonian: автомоби́л m (avtomobíl), кола (mk) f (kola)
• Malay: automobil, kereta (ms)
• Malayalam: കാർ (ml) (kār)
• Maltese: karozza (mt) f, vettura f
• Maori: motokā
• Marathi: मोटार n (moṭār), मोटारवाहन (moṭārvāhan)
• Mirandese: altemoble m, carro m
• Mohawk: kà:sere
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: автомашин (mn) (avtomashin), автомобиль (avtomobili), машин (mn) (mashin)

• Nahuatl: tepozmalacatl (nah), teposkalnejnenki
• Navajo: chidí
• Nepali: मोटरगाडी (moṭaragāḍī)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bil (no) m

  Nynorsk: bil (nn) m

• Ojibwe: odaabaan
• Oriya: କାର୍ (or) (kar)
• Ossetian: хӕдтулгӕ (xædtulgæ)
• Pashto: تېزرفتار‎ m (tezraftãr), موټر‎ (ps) m (moṭár), خودرو‎ (ps) (?)
• Persian: خودرو‎ (fa) (xodrow), اتوموبیل‎ (fa) (otomobil), ماشین‎ (fa) (mâšin) (informal)
• Plautdietsch: Koa f, Auto (nds) n
• Polish: samochód (pl) m, auto (pl) n
• Portuguese: automóvel (pt) m, carro (pt) m, veículo (pt) m, auto (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਕਾਰ (pa) (kār)
• Romanian: automobil (ro) n, mașină (ro) f
• Russian: автомоби́ль (ru) m (avtomobílʹ), автомаши́на (ru) f (avtomašína), маши́на (ru) f (mašína) (informal), авто́ (ru) n (avtó) (colloquial), та́чка (ru) f (táčka) (slang)
• Rusyn: автомобі́л m (avtomobíl), авто n (avto)
• Scots: motorcaur
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: аутомо̀бӣл m

  Roman: automòbīl (sh) m

• Sinhalese: මෝටර් රථ (mōṭar ratha)
• Slovak: automobil m, auto (sk) n
• Slovene: automobil m, avto (sl) m
• Somali: baabuur (so)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: awto n

  Upper Sorbian: awto (hsb) n

• Spanish: automóvil (es) m, carro (es) m, coche (es) m, auto (es) m
• Swahili: motakari bus, motokari bus, motokaa (sw) 9 or 10, gari (sw) 5 or 6
• Swedish: bil (sv) c
• Tagalog: awtomobil, isugang batlag, batlag, kotse (tl), awto
• Tajik: автомобил (avtomobil), мошин (tg) (mošin), автомошин (avtomošin), худрав (xudrav)
• Tamil: மோட்டார் (ta) (mōṭṭār), வண்டி (ta) (vaṇṭi)
• Tatar: автомобиль (awtomobil’), арба (tt) (arba)
• Telugu: మోటారు (te) (mōṭāru), కారు (te) (kāru), బండి (te) (baṇḍi)
• Thai: รถยนต์ (th) (rót-yon), รถ (th) (rót)
• Tibetan: ཆིས་ཁྲེའེ (chis khre'e)
• Tigrinya: ኣውቶሞቢል (ʾawtomobil), መኪና (mäkina)
• Tonkawa: ˀa·cosa·nan
• Turkish: otomobil (tr), araba (tr)
• Turkmen: maşyn, awtomobil (tk), awtomaşyn (tk)
• Tuvan: автомобиль (avtomobilʹ)
• Ukrainian: автомобі́ль (uk) m (avtomobílʹ), маши́на f (mašýna), автомаши́на (uk) f (avtomašýna), авто́ (uk) n (avtó)
• Unami: hatëmopil, amankshkinkw
• Urdu: گاڑی‎ f (gāṛī), کار‎ f (kār)
• Uyghur: ئاپتوموبىل‎ (aptomobil), ماشىنا‎ (mashina)
• Uzbek: avtomobil (uz), avtomashina (uz), mashina (uz)
• Vietnamese: xe hơi (vi), ô tô (vi), xe (vi)
• Volapük: motoravab (vo), tood
• Yakut: массыына (massıına)
• Yiddish: אויטאָמאָביל‎ n (oytomobil), אויטאָ‎ m (oyto), מאַשין‎ f (mashin)
• Zhuang: giceh

Verb

automobile (third-person singular simple present automobiles, present participle automobiling, simple past and past participle automobiled)

1. (intransitive, dated) To travel by automobile.

Translations

to travel by automobile

• Finnish: autoilla (fi)

Adjective

automobile (not comparable)

1. Self-moving; self-propelled.
   • 1919, Nikola Tesla, My Inventions

     As early as 1898 I proposed to representatives of a large manufacturing concern the construction and public exhibition of an automobile carriage which, left to itself, would perform a great variety of operations involving something akin to judgment.

   Synonym: autokinetic

Translations

self-moving

• Finnish: auto- (fi)

---

French

Etymology

auto- +‎ mobile, as the vehicle is powered by an engine rather than pulled by horses.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o.tɔ.mɔ.bil/

• Audio (France, Paris)

  (file)

• Homophone: automobiles
• Hyphenation: au‧to‧mo‧bile

Adjective

automobile (plural automobiles)

1. automotive

Noun

automobile f (plural automobiles)

1. automobile

   L’automobile est un moyen de déplacement pratique à la campagne, mais cher et polluant.

   The automobile is a practical means of travel in the countryside, but it's expensive and polluting.

Synonyms

• (informal) auto
• (France, informal) bagnole
• (France, informal) caisse
• (Quebec, Louisiana) char
• (France, informal) tire
• voiture

Derived terms

• automobilisable
• automobilisme
• automobiliste
• canot automobile

Descendants

• → Dutch: automobiel
• → English: automobile
• → German: Automobil
• → Russian: автомоби́ль (avtomobílʹ)
  • → Armenian: ավտոմոբիլ (avtomobil)
  • → Azerbaijani: avtomobil
  • → Georgian: ავტომობილი (avṭomobili)
  • → Kazakh: автомобиль (avtomobïlʹ)
  • → Kyrgyz: автомобиль (avtomobilʹ)
  • → Turkmen: awtomobil
  • → Uyghur: ئاپتوموبىل‎ (aptomobil)
  • → Uzbek: avtomobil

Further reading

• “automobile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Italian

Diversi tipi di automobile.

Etymology

auto- +‎ mobile

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aw.toˈmɔ.bi.le/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔbile
• Hyphenation: au‧to‧mò‧bi‧le

Noun

automobile f (plural automobili)

1. automobile

   Synonyms: auto, macchina, vettura