mobile
/ˈmoʊ.bəl/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.85 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Capable of being moved, especially on wheels.
adj
Pertaining to or by agency of mobile phones.
adj
Changing in appearance and expression under the influence of the mind.
noun
A kinetic sculpture or decorative arrangement made of items hanging so that they can move independently from each other.
Example Sentences
- "mobile home; mobile library"
- "She's mobile again after her skiing accident."
- "mobile number"
- "mobile internet"
- "A farmer could place an order for a new tractor part by text message and pay for it by mobile money-transfer. A supplier many miles away would then take the part to the local matternet station for airborne dispatch via drone."
- "Mercury is a mobile liquid."
Etymology
From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin mōbilis (“easy to be moved, moveable”), from moveō (“move”). The video-gaming sense was coined by Richard Bartle to describe NPCs or creatures capable of moving "under their own power" in the 1978 video game Multi-User Dungeon. Bartle retracted an earlier claim of his that it was from the kinetic sculpture sense of mobile (for the "unpredictable but limited" motion of the hanging ornaments).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *m(y)ewh₁-, -, mōbilis
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmoʊ.bəl/
- British English: /ˈməʊ.baɪl/
Usage
- Indian usage
- British usage
- Uncountable
- Dated