motor

From Middle English motour (“controller, prime mover; God”), from Latin mōtor (“mover; that which moves something”), from mōtō (“I set in motion”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈməʊtə/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈmoʊtəɹ/, [ˈmoʊɾɚ]

  • Audio (California):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈməʉtə/, [ˈməʉɾə], /ˈmɐʉtə/, [ˈmɐʉɾə]
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈmɐʉtə/, [ˈmɐʉɾə]
• Hyphenation: mo‧tor
• Rhymes: -əʊtə(ɹ)

motor (plural motors)

1. A machine or device that converts other energy forms into mechanical energy, or imparts motion.
2. (now colloquial outside attributive use) A motor car, or automobile, sometimes extended to other powered vehicles, such as goods vehicles.

   Nice motor!

   Motor insurance is expensive for youngsters. (attributive use)

   • 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^[1]:

     '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.

3. (figuratively) A source of power for something; an inspiration; a driving force.
4. Any protein capable of converting chemical energy into mechanical work.
5. (Christianity, archaic, poetic) The controller or prime mover of the universe; God.
6. (prison slang) The fermenting mass of fruit that is the basis of pruno, or "prison wine".

   Synonym: kicker

• motour (obsolete)

• engine

• motoric

• → Persian: موتر (môtar)
• → Japanese: モーター (mōtā)
• → Korean: 모터 (moteo)
• → Burmese: မော်တော် (mautau)
• → Hausa: mōtā̀
• → Isoko: omoto
• → Nupe: mátò
• → Yoruba: mọ́tò
• → Shanghainese: 馬達 / 马达 (mo⁶-da⁶)
  • → Chinese: 馬達 / 马达 (mǎ dá)
• → Tibetan: མོ་ཊ (mo ṭa)

motor (not comparable)

1. (biology) Relating to the ability to move.

   She has excellent motor skills.

2. (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.

• motor unit
• psychomotor
• sensorimotor
• supramotor

motor (third-person singular simple present motors, present participle motoring, simple past and past participle motored)

1. (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.

   • 1946 April 22, Bobby Troup, “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66”, in New Juke Box Hits, performed by Chuck Berry, published March 1961, side 2, track 2:

     Well, if you ever plan to motor west / Jack, take my way, it's the highway that's the best / Get your kicks on Route 66

2. (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.

3. (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".

4. (slang) To leave.

   I gotta motor.

• Motor Neurons at Motor Units on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “motor”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “motor”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• morto

Borrowed from English motor, compare motor car, from Latin mōtor.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈmʊə̯.tər/

• Audio:

  (file)

motor (plural motors, diminutive motortjie)

1. car, automobile

   Synonym: kar

2. engine, motor

• motorfiets
• vragmotor
• veteraanmotor

motor m (plural motores)

1. engine, motor (mechanical device)

Borrowed from Latin mōtōrem.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [muˈtor]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [moˈtor]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾ

motor (feminine motora, masculine plural motors, feminine plural motores) or motor (feminine motriu, masculine plural motors, feminine plural motrius)

1. motor

motor m (plural motors)

1. motor

• locomotor
• motorista

• “motor”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “motor”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “motor” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “motor” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• IPA^(key): /moˈtoɾ/ [moˈt̪oɾ̪]
• Hyphenation: mo‧tor

Borrowed from Spanish motor.

motór

1. motor; engine

motór

1. clipping of motorsiklo

Other scripts
Cyrillic	мотор
Roman

• Hyphenation: mo‧tor

motor

1. engine, motor

• “motor”, in Luğatçıq (in Russian)

• IPA^(key): [ˈmotor]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -otor

motor m inan

1. engine, motor

• See motiv

• “motor”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “motor”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

• IPA^(key): /moːtɔr/, [ˈmoːtˢɒ]

motor c (singular definite motoren, plural indefinite motorer)

1. motor, engine

Borrowed from English motor, from Latin motor. In the sense “motorbike” motor was originally short for motorrijwiel or motorfiets.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoːtɔr/, /ˈmoːtər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oːtɔr, -oːtər
• Hyphenation: mo‧tor

motor m (plural motoren or motors, diminutive motortje n)

1. engine (mechanical device)
2. motorbike

   Synonyms: motorfiets, motorrijwiel

• motoriek
• motoriseren

• → Aukan: muntolu
• → Caribbean Hindustani: motar
• → Caribbean Javanese: montor
• → Indonesian: motor
• → Trió: monturu

From English motor or German Motor, from Latin mōtor, mōtō (“I set in motion”).^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈmotor]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mo‧tor
• Rhymes: -or

motor (plural motorok)

1. engine, motor (a machine or device that converts other energy forms into mechanical energy, or imparts motion; the part of a car or other vehicle which provides the force for motion)
2. (figurative) powerhouse (any source of power, energy or strength)
3. motorbike, motorcycle (an open-seated motor vehicle with handlebars instead of a steering wheel, and having two (or sometimes three) wheels)

   Synonyms: motorbicikli, motorkerékpár

• motor in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Borrowed from Dutch motor, from English motor, from Latin motor. In the sense “motorbike” or "motorcycle", motor was originally short for motorrijwiel or motorfiets.

• IPA^(key): [ˈmotɔr]
• Hyphenation: mo‧tor

motor (plural motor-motor)

1. engine

   Synonyms: enjin, mesin

2. (informal) motorcycle

   Synonyms: honda, sepeda motor

3. (figuratively) important person in organization

• “motor” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• IPA^(key): /moˈtor/

motor (plural motores)

1. motor

From moveō (“I move”) +‎ -tor (“-er”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmoː.tɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmɔː.t̪or]

mōtor m (genitive mōtōris); third declension

1. mover; that which moves something

Third-declension noun.

• → English: motor
• → German: Motor

mōtor

1. first-person singular present passive indicative of mōtō

• “motor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• motor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

motor m (definite singular motoren, indefinite plural motorer, definite plural motorene)

1. engine, motor

• IPA^(key): /mutur/
• IPA^(key): /mutːur/ (dialectal)

motor m (definite singular motoren, indefinite plural motorar, definite plural motorane)

1. engine, motor

• motór

Learned borrowing from Latin mōtor.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔ.tɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔtɔr
• Syllabification: mo‧tor

motor m inan (diminutive motorek)

1. (colloquial) motorcycle

   Synonyms: (archaic) autocykl, motocykl

2. engine

   Synonym: silnik

• motor in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• motor in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from French moteur, from Latin mōtōrem.

• Audio (Northern Portugal):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oʁ, -oɾ
• Hyphenation: mo‧tor

motor (feminine motora, masculine plural motores, feminine plural motoras)

1. motive

motor m (plural motores)

1. motor
2. engine

Borrowed from French moteur.

• IPA^(key): /moˈtor/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -or
• Hyphenation: mo‧tor

motor n (plural motoare)

1. engine
2. (colloquial) motorcycle

• “motor”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

From Latin motor.

mòtōr m inan (Cyrillic spelling мо̀то̄р)

1. engine, motor
2. (colloquial) motorcycle

• mòtōrnī

• IPA^(key): /móːtɔr/

mọ̑tor m inan

1. engine

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine inan., soft o-stem
nom. sing.	mótor
gen. sing.	mótorja
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	mótor	mótorja	mótorji
genitive (rodȋlnik)	mótorja	mótorjev	mótorjev
dative (dajȃlnik)	mótorju	mótorjema	mótorjem
accusative (tožȋlnik)	mótor	mótorja	mótorje
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	mótorju	mótorjih	mótorjih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	mótorjem	mótorjema	mótorji

From Latin motor.

• IPA^(key): /moˈtoɾ/ [moˈt̪oɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: mo‧tor

motor (feminine motora, masculine plural motores, feminine plural motoras)

1. moving
   • 1915, Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Mitos y Supersticiones Recogidos de la Tradición Oral Chilena, page 14:

     debilidad de los miembros motores

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

motor m (plural motores)

1. motor (mechanical device)
2. (mechanics) engine
3. (figuratively) driving force, driver, mover
4. (figuratively) powerhouse
5. (computing) backend, back end

• → Ye'kwana: motode

• “motor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

• Audio:

  (file)

motor c

1. engine, motor

• motor in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• motor in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

• morot

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /moˈtoɾ/ [moˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: mo‧tor

Borrowed from Spanish motor.

motór (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜓᜆᜓᜇ᜔)

1. motor; engine

   Synonym: makina

motór (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜓᜆᜓᜇ᜔)

1. clipping of motorsiklo

• “motor”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• “motor”, in Pinoy Dictionary, 2010–2025

• motör (obsolete)

From French moteur m, from Latin mōtor m (“mover”).

• IPA^(key): /moˈtoɾ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mo‧tor

motor (definite accusative motoru, plural motorlar)

1. engine (mechanical device)
2. motorboat

   Synonym: motorbot

3. (colloquial) a motorcycle

• motorlu, motörlü (“motorized”)

Compare Italian motore

motor m (plural motori) or motor m (plural moturi)

1. motor, engine

Possibly a shortening of Dutch motorboot (“motorboat”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈmo.t̪or/

motor

1. motorboat

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[2], Pacific linguistics