Where does “motor” come from?
motor (Hungarian) comes from English motor, from Middle English motour, from Latin motor, from Latin -tor, from Proto-Italic -tōr, from Proto-Indo-European -tōr, from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s.
motor (Hungarian): engine, motor
Definitions
- engine, motor
Ancestry of “motor”, step by step
motor traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English motor
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | motor | A machine or device that converts other energy... |
| 2 | Middle English | motour | — |
| 3 | Latin | motor | mover; that which moves something; first-person... |
| 4 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |
via German motor
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | motor | engine mechanical device |