Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “move” come from?

Move comes from Middle English moven, from Old French moveir, from Latin movere meaning to set in motion or change position.

move (English): To change place or posture; to go, in any manner,...

Definitions

  1. To change place or posture; to go, in any manner,...

Ancestry of “move”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmoven—
2Old FrenchmoveirAlternative form of movoir
3Latinmoverepresent active infinitive of moveō; second-person...
4LatinmoveoI move, stir, set in motion; I disturb, shake,...
5Proto-Italicmoweō—
6Proto-Indo-Europeanmew-to move

Words derived from “move”

  • mover
  • moveth
  • moveless
  • countermove
  • movest
  • movability
  • earthmover
  • moveout
  • movelessness
  • movelessly
  • multimove
  • premove
  • comove
  • mismove
  • postmove
  • outmove
  • unmove
  • nonmover
  • inmove
  • foremove
  • transmove
  • moveset
  • muf
Every word from Proto-Indo-European mew- →