automobile
Americannoun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
- automobilist noun
Etymology
Origin of automobile
1865–70; < French: literally, self-movable (vehicle). See auto- 1, mobile
Explanation
An automobile is a car: a vehicle with four wheels and an internal combustion engine. The automobile is one of the most common ways to travel. Thanks in part to Henry Ford, automobiles are just about everywhere: in cities, small towns, and even in rural areas, where it's too far to walk from place to place and there's very little public transportation. Trucks, vans, buses, and limousines are bigger than the typical automobile, but they’re automobiles, too. A motorcycle isn't an automobile because it only has two wheels. Automobiles are good for getting around, but they also cause pollution and automobile accidents.
Vocabulary lists containing automobile
To Thine Own Self Be True: Auto
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Frankenwords: Words with Roots from Different Languages
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: auto-
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the early 1920s, the injury and death rates for both aviation and automobile travel were appalling.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
European cars represent only a fraction of total automobile sales in the U.S.—less than 700,000 out of more than 16 million cars sold in the American market annually.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
“At the turn of the 20th century, people were still in horses and buggies … they didn’t likely envision that there’d be an automobile to replace a buggy. But that’s what happened,” Cohen said.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 28, 2026
It’s your friend’s dad who’s always around to help fix whatever home improvement, automobile, or general adulting problem you have.
From Salon • Apr. 28, 2026
“Did you tell me the truth when you told me Ernest gave you an automobile as part payment of that job?”
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
