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automobile (n.)"self-propelled motor vehicle," 1895, from French automobile, short for véhicule automobile (see automobile (adj.)). The modern Greek calls it autokineto "moved of itself." The French word had competition in the early years from locomobile; in English other early forms were motorcar and autocar. An electrical car was an electromobile (1899).
Related entries & more mono
Related entries & more 1959 as a shortening of monophonic in reference to recordings; earlier used among printers for "monotype machine" (c. 1925) and generally for monochrome (motorcar, etc.), 1940s. From 1964 as short for mononucleosis.
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free-for-all (n.)"mass brawl" (one in which all may participate), 1918, from earlier adjective use (1868), especially in reference to open horse races, American English. Earlier as a noun in reference to free-for-all horse and motorcar races.
Related entries & more Mercedes-Benz
Related entries & more motorcar brand first marketed 1926 after merger of two earlier companies. The first part of the name, Mercedes, marketed as a car name from 1901, was chosen by Austrian manufacturer Emil Jellinek for his daughter, Mercedes (1889-1929). The Benz is from the other company, from name of Karl Benz, creator of the Benz Patent Motorwagen (1886). The surname is built from a familiar form of Berthold,
Benedict, or Bernhard.
tour (n.)c. 1300, "a turn, a shift on duty," from Old French tor, tourn, tourn "a turn, trick, round, circuit, circumference," from torner, tourner "to turn" (see turn (v.)). Sense of "a continued ramble or excursion" is from 1640s. Tour de France as a bicycle race is recorded in English from 1916 (Tour de France Cycliste), distinguished from a motorcar race of the same name. The Grand Tour, a journey through France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy formerly was the finishing touch in the education of a gentleman.
Related entries & more autocar (n.)
Related entries & more "car which contains in itself a motor and a source of power," 1895, from auto- + car.
Which is it to be? We observe that the London Times has lent the weight of its authority to the word "autocar," which it now prints without the significant inverted commas but with a hyphen, "auto-car." We believe that the vocable originated with a journal called the Hardwareman, which succeeded in obtaining the powerful support of the Engineer for its offspring. As for ourselves, being linguistic purists, we do not care for hybrid constructions—"auto" is Greek, while "car" is Latin and Celtic. At the same time, such clumsy phrases as "horseless carriages," "mechanical road carriages," and "self-propelled vehicles" are not meeting with general favour. Why not therefore adopt the philogically sound "motor-car," which could be run into a single word, "motorcar"? [The Electrical Engineer, Dec. 20, 1895]
Compare automobile.
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