Meanings
plural motels
- alsoattributiveA type of hotel or lodging establishment, often located near a major highway, which typically features a series of rooms whose entrances are immediately adjacent to a parking lot to facilitate convenient access to parked automobiles.
Synonyms: motor hotel
- A low-cost short-stay hotel, often with hourly rates rather than daily rates, and notorious for permitting illicit sexual activities; a love hotel.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA type of hotel or lodging establishment, often located near a major highway, which typically features a series of rooms whose entrances are immediately adjacent to a parking lot to facilitate convenient access to parked automobiles.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*m(y)ewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*m(y)owh₁éyeti
- Proto-Italic*moweō
- Latinmoveō
- Latinmōtor
- Middle Englishmotour
- Englishmotor
- Proto-Indo-European*gʰóstis
- Proto-Indo-European*pótis
- Proto-Indo-European*gʰóstipotis
- Proto-Italic*hostipotis
- Latinhospes
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Latinhospitālis
- Old Frenchostel
- Middle Frenchhostel
- Frenchhôte
- Englishhotel
- Englishmotel
Blend of motor + hotel, from the original Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo in California, United States, established in 1925 by Arthur Heineman (1878–1974).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مُوتِيل
- مُوتِيل (mutil)type of hotel
Bulgarian моте́л
- моте́л (motél)type of hotel
Catalan motel
- moteltype of hotel
Chinese Cantonese 汽車旅店 /汽车旅店
- 汽車旅店 /汽车旅店 (hei³ ce¹ leoi⁵ dim³)type of hotel
Chinese Mandarin 汽車旅館 /汽车旅馆
- 汽車旅館 /汽车旅馆 (qìchē lǚguǎn)type of hotel
Czech motel
- moteltype of hotel
Danish motel
- moteltype of hotel
Dutch motel
- moteltype of hotel
Esperanto motelo
- motelotype of hotel
Estonian motell
- motelltype of hotel
Finnish motelli
- motellitype of hotel
French motel
- moteltype of hotel
German Motel
- Moteltype of hotel
Greek μοτέλ
- μοτέλ (motél)type of hotel
Hebrew מוֹטֶל
- מוֹטֶל (motél)type of hotel
Hindi मोटेल
- मोटेल (moṭel)type of hotel
Hungarian motel
- moteltype of hotel
Irish óstán, óstán cois bóthair
- óstántype of hotel
- óstán cois bóthairtype of hotel
Italian motel, autostello
- moteltype of hotel
- autostellotype of hotel
- autoalbergotype of hotel
Japanese モーテル, モテル
- モーテル (mōteru)type of hotel
- モテル (moteru)type of hotel
Korean 모텔
- 모텔 (motel)type of hotel
Latvian motelis
- motelistype of hotel
Lithuanian motelis
- motelistype of hotel
Malay motel
- moteltype of hotel
Māori mōtēra
- mōtēratype of hotel
Norwegian Bokmål motell
- motelltype of hotel
Persian متل, راهسرا
- متل (motel)type of hotel
- راهسراtype of hotel
Polish motel
- moteltype of hotel
Portuguese hotel de beira de estrada
- hotel de beira de estradatype of hotel
Romanian motel
- moteltype of hotel
Russian моте́ль, автопансиона́т
- моте́ль (motɛ́lʹ)type of hotel
- автопансиона́т (avtopansionát)type of hotel
Scottish Gaelic taigh-òsta motarachd
- taigh-òsta motarachdtype of hotel
Slovak motel
- moteltype of hotel
Spanish motel
- moteltype of hotel
Swedish motell
- motelltype of hotel
Thai โมเต็ล
- โมเต็ล (moo-dtel)type of hotel
Turkish motel
- moteltype of hotel
Ukrainian моте́ль
- моте́ль (motélʹ)type of hotel
Urdu موٹل
- موٹل (moṭel)type of hotel
Vietnamese mô-ten, mô ten
- mô-tentype of hotel
- mô tentype of hotel
Welsh motél
- motéltype of hotel
Yiddish מאָטעל
- מאָטעל (motel)type of hotel
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with motel
Anagrams
Cite this entry
motel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motel
“motel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motel. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “motel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motel.
Source: motel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.