mobility

[moh-bil-i-tee]

See more synonyms for mobility on Thesaurus.com

noun

the quality of being mobile.
Sociology. the movement of people in a population, as from place to place, from job to job, or from one social class or level to another.

Compare horizontal mobility, vertical mobility.

Origin of mobility

1375–1425; late Middle English mobilite < Latin mōbilitās. See mobile, -ity

Related formsin·ter·mo·bil·i·ty, nounnon·mo·bil·i·ty, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for mobility

flexibility, maneuverability, movability, motility, portability, adjustability

Examples from the Web for mobility

Contemporary Examples of mobility

The other narrative is of mobility in the service of ambition.
Will Texas Stay Texan?
David Fontana
December 29, 2014
With the help of mobility aids and a feeding tube, she lived well past her initial prognosis of death by age 4.
U.K. Courts Grant Mother Right to End Her 12-Year-Old Disabled Daughter’s Life
Elizabeth Picciuto
November 4, 2014
The focus on cost and mobility has extended into missions such as ground-based air defense.
Why Old-School Airships Now Rule Our Warzones
Bill Sweetman
June 30, 2014
Individuals who have lost the ability to stand and walk suffer from many challenges in addition to the loss of mobility.
The Bionic Exoskeleton Helping Paraplegics Walk
Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD
June 29, 2014
Nothing is a stronger force for opportunity, for equality, for mobility.
Can Higher Education Really Save Our Humanity?
James Poulos
February 1, 2014

Historical Examples of mobility

In reality they doubtless have mobility sufficient for emigration.
Histology of the Blood
Paul Ehrlich
They were conscious of the mobility of their society and gloried in it.
The Frontier in American History
Frederick Jackson Turner
We are not exploiting our own special characteristics, mobility and sea power!
Gallipoli Diary, Volume 2
Ian Hamilton
He moves continually, because he must coordinate and adapt his mobility.
Spontaneous Activity in Education
Maria Montessori
His mobility, his eagerness, were sometimes now a perplexity, even a pain to her.
Robert Elsmere
Mrs. Humphry Ward

British Dictionary definitions for mobility

mobility

noun

the ability to move physicallya knee operation has restricted his mobility; mobility is part of physical education
sociol (of individuals or social groups) movement within or between classes and occupationsSee also vertical mobility, horizontal mobility
time that a resident of a secure unit is allowed to spend outside the unit, as preparation for an eventual return to society

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mobility

early 15c., "capacity for motion," from Old French mobilité "changeableness, inconsistency, fickleness," from Latin mobilitatem (nominative mobilitas) "activity, speed," figuratively "changeableness, fickleness, inconstancy," from mobilis (see mobile (adj.)). Socio-economics sense is from 1900 and writers in sociology.