Why Is It Called An "Automobile"?

First let us consider the name, "automobile." Now, a "car" could have been called anything and, sometimes, it is. Oliver Evans applied for a U.S. patent in Philadelphia in 1792 on a steam land carriage, which he called the "oruktor amphibolos!" We could have been strapped with that name forever, if it weren't for more reasonable individuals working on the same concept.

Martini was a 14th Century Italian painter, who had been trained in engineering. He designed (on paper) a man-propelled carriage, mounted on four wheels. Each wheel was powered by a hand-turned capstan arrangement. Gearing was also provided to transmit the rotation of each capstan to the wheel below. It may have looked good on paper, but the four turners of the capstans couldn't have kept it up for long before they fell over with exhaustion. It is lucky for us that Martini did not name his invention after himself, as many inventors do. If he had, and the word had survived to the present, it might be a little confusing. If we were offered a "Martini," we might not know whether to drive it or drink it! (Representatives of MADD and SADD would probably tell us to park it!) We could be reading headlines like: ORUKTOR ACCIDENT TAKES THREE LIVES or UNITED MARTINI WORKERS ON STRIKE. The really historical (and fortunate) aspect of Martini's design is the name that he gave it: "automobile," from the Greek word, "auto," (self) and the Latin word, "mobils," (moving). "Car," on the other hand, comes from an ancient Celtic word, "carrus," meaning cart or wagon.

George B. Selden, an attorney in Rochester, New York, applied for, and finally received, a patent for a "road machine" in 1879. The Duryea brothers (1895) called their products "motor wagons." In 1896, Henry Ford introduced an experimental car labeled the "Quadricycle." Newspapers used words like autometon, motor-vique, oleo locomotive, autokenetic, buggyaut, motor carriage, autobaine, automotor horse, diamote, motorig, mocole, and, of course, the horseless carriage. In 1895, H. H. Kohlsaat, publisher of the Chicago Times-Herald, offered a $500.00 prize for the best name for the motorized vehicles of the day. The judges picked "motorcycle" as the winner. "Quadricycle" was a favorite, as was "petrocar." The word "automobile" wasn't even in the running! But in 1897, The New York Times prophesied, "...the new mechanical wagon with the awful name -- automobile...has come to stay..."

Many of the words that are associated with automobiles are derived from the French; i.e, garage, chauffeur, limousine, and chassis are just some examples.