locomotion

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UK/ləʊ.kəˈməʊ.ʃən/Canada, US/ˌloʊ.kəˈmoʊ.ʃən/Australia/ləʉ.kəˈməʉ.ʃən/

noun

The ability to move from place to place, or the act of doing so.

Less commonScrabble 14

Meanings

nounlocomotion (usually uncountable, plural locomotions)

plural locomotions

  1. uncountableusuallyThe ability to move from place to place, or the act of doing so.
  2. uncountableusuallybiologySelf-powered motion by which a whole organism changes its location through walking, running, jumping, crawling, swimming, brachiating or flying.

    The assessment also looks at reflexes, stationary (body control), locomotion (movement), grasping and visual-motor integration (eyes and hands coordinated).

    2017 June 9, Susan Scutti, “Study links mosquito spray to delayed motor skills in babies”, in CNN, archived from the original on 06 Oct 2022
    1 more example

    So it is that one of the characteristics that the sperm whale shares with all cetaceans is that it swims by flexing its tail flukes dorso-ventrally, a less efficient way of swimming than that of its distant piscine ancestors, but a mode of locomotion that derives directly from the galloping of its more recent terrestrial ones.

    2011 September 22, Richard Shelton, “Sheep, pig, whale”, in Times Literary Supplement
  3. countableusuallyoften preceded by definite articleA dance, originally popular in the 1960s, in which the arms are used to mimic the motion of the connecting rods of a steam locomotive.

    Mr. Motian's own tunes, folk-simple locomotions of straight melody, fast or slow, with acres of room for interpretation, have accounted for some of the mistier sets.

    2005 February 7, Ben Ratliff, “New CD's”, in The New York Times

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe power or ability to move

Broader

nounself-propelled movement

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*m(y)ewh₁-“to move, drive”
  2. Latinmovēre“move; change, exchange, go in or out, quit”
  3. Latinlocō
  4. Frenchlocomotion
  5. Englishlocomotion

From French locomotion, from Latin locō (literally “from a place”) (ablative of locus (“place”)) + mōtiōnem (“motion, a moving”) (nominative mōtio), from Latin movēre (“move; change, exchange, go in or out, quit”), from Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- (“to move, drive”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian придвижване
  • придвижване (pridvižvane)ability to move
Catalan locomoció
  • locomocióability to move
Dutch voortbeweging
  • voortbewegingability to move
Finnish liikkumiskyky
  • liikkumiskykyability to move
French locomotion
  • locomotionability to move
German Fortbewegungsfähigkeit, Lokomotion
  • Fortbewegungsfähigkeitability to move
  • Lokomotionability to move
  • Fortbewegungability to move
Greek μετακίνηση
  • μετακίνηση (metakínisi)ability to move
Irish féinghluaiseacht
  • féinghluaiseachtability to move
Italian locomozione
  • locomozioneability to move
Polish lokomocja, poruszanie się
  • lokomocjaability to move
  • poruszanie sięability to move
Portuguese locomoção
  • locomoçãoability to move
Romanian locomoție
  • locomoțieability to move
Russian ход
  • ход (xod)ability to move
Spanish locomoción
  • locomociónability to move

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with locomotion

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

locomotion. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/locomotion

MLA

“locomotion.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/locomotion. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “locomotion,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/locomotion.

Source: locomotion on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.