motor
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈməʊtə/
ipa: /ˈmoʊtəɹ/
ipa: [ˈmoʊɾɚ]
ipa: /ˈməʉtə/
ipa: [ˈməʉɾə]
ipa: /ˈmɐʉtə/
ipa: [ˈmɐʉɾə]
ipa: /ˈmɐʉtə/
ipa: [ˈmɐʉɾə]
rhymes: -əʊtə(ɹ)
Forms: form: motors
form: motour
Etymology: From Middle English motour (“controller, prime mover; God”), from Latin mōtor (“mover; that which moves something”), from mōtō (“to set in motion”).
Senses: glosses: A machine or device that converts other energy forms into mechanical energy, or imparts motion.
examples: text: Nice motor!
raw_tags: attributive use
text: Motor insurance is expensive for youngsters.
text: 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.
ref: 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “His Own People”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 6:
text: 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, [...]
ref: 1918, Edith Wharton, chapter I, in The Marne, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 1:
text: 'However, you go and try your luck and see how you like it.' With that he flung himself into his motor and was off.
ref: 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed:
text: 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.
ref: 1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XXII, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 214:
text: 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.
ref: 1944 November and December, T. F. Cameron, “Motor and Cartage Working”, in Railway Magazine, page 338:
qualifier: now colloquial outside attributive use
glosses: A motor car, or automobile, sometimes extended to other powered vehicles, such as goods vehicles.
glosses: A source of power for something; an inspiration; a driving force.
glosses: Any protein capable of converting chemical energy into mechanical work.
topics: Christianity
glosses: The controller or prime mover of the universe; God.
synonyms: kicker
glosses: The fermenting mass of fruit that is the basis of pruno, or "prison wine".
Synonyms: engine
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
motor accident
motorail
motor-ambulance
motor aphasia
motoraxon
motor banca
motorbicycle
motorbike
motorboard
motor boat
motorboat
motor bogie
motorbus
motorcab
motorcade
motorcamp
motorcar
motor caravan
motorcaravan
motorcoach
motor coach
motor-coach
motor cop
motor cortex
motor court
motor cruiser
motorcycle
motor cycle
motor-cycle
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 memory
motor mount
motormouthed
motor mouth
motormouth
motor-mouth
motorneer
motor nerve
motor neuron
motor neuron disease
motor neurone disease
motor octane number
motor oil
Motorola
motorpathy
motorphobe
motorphobia
motorphone
motorplex
motor plow
motor pool
motor protein
motor pulley
motor race
motor racing
motor sailer
motorsailer
motor scooter
motor ship
motor show
motor spirit
motorsport
motorsports
motor station
motor theory
motor torpedo boat
motor trade
motortruck
motor truck
motor unit
motor-van
motor variable
motor vehicle
motor vessel
motor voter
motorway
motor yacht
Motown
mountain motor
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: motoric