Meanings
- not comparableCausing or setting up motion.
The whole thing depends on which function is being stimulated at a given moment , the motory or the retardatory .
1985, Василий Шукшин, Roubles in Words, Kopeks in Figures, and Other Stories, page 1402 more examples
The distance the motory end of the lever moves, and the movement of the bowl, are regulated by the length of the slot X, which is adjusted according as it is desired for the bowl to revolve with greater or less speed.
1877, Shubael E. Hewes, “185101: Meat-Choppers”, in Specifications and Drawings of Patents Issued from the U.S. Patent Office, page 138Creative motions of a certain quality, compelled to center from many or all possible directions to one point, will express a higher motory reality known as light.
1904, Julius Kuhn, Glimpses in to the Moral and Physical Labryrinths of Nature, page 115 - not comparablebiologyRelating to organs of motion.
The motory divisions are in the anterior portion of the cord, and are seven in number.
1913 February, The Flaming Sword, volume 27, number 2, page 362 more examples
On the other hand, the activity of the motory cerebral nerves receives the impulse to voluntary motions from the medulla oblongata.
1876, Joseph Jones, Medical and Surgical Memoirs, page 40If the motory apparatus did not possess a memory of its own, images, or residua , no movement could be learned and made habitual.
1890, Théodule Ribot, The Psychology of Attention, page 54 - not comparablePertaining to or associated with a motor.
3.05 Best speed of the motory belt of middle-size benches.
1879, P. Kireev, Tables of the principal speeds occurring in mechanical engineering, page 51 more example
An automatic motory manufacturing machine made for the special purpose of producing a predeterminate manufacturing operation upon a material held upon a support and then to cease operating thereon, and which comprises means for holding a proper amount of latent motive power while the machine is not in action, and means whereupon a proper amount of power may be generated at each operation of the machine, and means whereupon all the power that is generated in one operation of the machine may be released and utilized as motive power in one operation of the machine, and means adapted to be forced by said power to produce a predeterminate manufacturing operation upon a material held upon a support and then to cease operating thereon.
1906, Frank L. Harmon, “814004: Automatic Motory Manufacturing Machine”, in Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office
Origin
From Latin motorius (“that has motion”). See motor (noun).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
motory. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motory
“motory.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motory. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “motory,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motory.
Source: motory on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.