car

¹ American  

[kahr] / kɑr /

noun

1. an automobile.

2. a vehicle running on rails, as a streetcar or railroad car.

3. the part of an elevator, balloon, modern airship, etc., that carries the passengers, freight, etc.

4. British Dialect. any wheeled vehicle, as a farm cart or wagon.

5. Literary. a chariot, as of war or triumph.

6. Archaic. cart; carriage.

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car ² American  

[kahr] / kɑr /

adjective

Chiefly Scot.

1. left-handed.

2. sinister.

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CAR ³ American  

1. computer-assisted retrieval.

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car. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. carat; carats.

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car ¹ British  

/ kɑː /

noun

1. 1. Also called: motorcar.   automobile.  a self-propelled road vehicle designed to carry passengers, esp one with four wheels that is powered by an internal-combustion engine

   2. ( as modifier )

      car coat

2. a conveyance for passengers, freight, etc, such as a cable car or the carrier of an airship or balloon

3. a railway vehicle for passengers only, such as a sleeping car or buffet car

4. a railway carriage or van

5. the enclosed platform of a lift

6. a poetic word for chariot

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CAR ² British  

abbreviation

1. compound annual return

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Usage

What else does car mean? To most of us on the outside, a car is a vehicle with a motor and four wheels. But in prison slang, your car is your crew, especially when it comes to drugs, protection, and money-making.

Other Word Forms

• carless adjective

Etymology

Origin of car¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English carre, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin carra (feminine singular), from Latin, neuter plural of carrum, variant of carrus “baggage cart, freight wagon,” from Gaulish; akin to Old Irish carr “wheeled vehicle”

Origin of car²

First recorded in 1375–1425; Middle English ( Scots ), from Scots Gaelic ceàrr “false, left, wrong”

Origin of CAR³

First recorded in 1980–85

Explanation

Your car is your automobile, your wheels, your vehicle. A car can also be another kind of moving compartment — such as a railroad car, a cable car, or a trolley car. The word car has been around much longer than the automobile. It comes from the Latin carrus, a kind of wagon the Romans discovered from the Gauls, a European people the Romans conquered. It shows up in Italian and Spanish (carro, meaning "a car or a cart," and it also survives in various forms in modern Irish, Gaelic, Welsh, Breton, German, and other languages. When you’re listening to your engine purr, you can thank the Gauls. And the Romans.

Example Sentences

The recent increases means the cost of filling up a family car with petrol has risen by £14, while a tank of diesel costs £27 more.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

My mother essentially has nothing — no homeownership, no car and no job.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

Investors will hear more about tariffs, EVs, energy prices, and new car demand when Ford reports first-quarter numbers on Apr. 29 External link.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

That’s the drop in Mercedes-Benz car sales in China, its largest market, during the first quarter, with the company noting that 2026 is a transition year in the country as it replaces several key models.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Soldiers were approaching along the track, pausing at each car to haul open the heavy sliding door.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Related Words

• auto
• automobile
• bus
• convertible
• jeep
• limousine
• machine
• motor
• pickup
• ride
• station wagon
• truck
• van
• wagon