Etymology

car

C3A1R1

Today it means: A wheeled vehicle that moves independently, with at least three wheels, powered mechanically, steered by a driver and mostly for personal transportation but relatively smaller than a truck/lorry and a bus. Full definition →

Middle English carre ← Anglo-Norman carre ← Latin carrus
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car · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ḱr̥sós“vehicle”
  2. Proto-Celtic · derived from*karros“wagon”
  3. Gaulish · derived from*karros
  4. Latin · derived fromcarrus“two-wheeled baggage wagon”
  5. Anglo-Norman · derived fromcarre
  6. Middle English · inherited fromcarre
  7. English todaycar

Inherited from Middle English carre, borrowed from Anglo-Norman carre, from Old Northern French (compare Old French char), from Latin carrus (“two-wheeled baggage wagon”), from Gaulish *karros, from Proto-Celtic *karros (“wagon”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós (“vehicle”). Doublet of carrus and horse.

car · noun2

Acronym of contents of the address part of register number. Note that it was based on original hardware and has no meaning today.

Words from the same roots

Latincarrus all →

careerchargecarrycarouselchariotcaricaturecargacarrackkarozzinsupracargo

Gaulish*karros all →

chariot

Proto-Celtic*karros all →

chariot

Proto-Indo-European*ḱr̥sós all →

careerhorsechariot

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.