Etymograph

English

mobile

Mobile comes from Latin mōbilis ‘easy to be moved, moveable’, from moveō ‘move’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)ewh₁-1‘to move’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)owh₁éyeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moweō1‘to move’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoveō2‘move’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōbilis2‘easy to be moved’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1837mobile2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin moveo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English mobile
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Another London Life: “His finely cut features were capable of every variety…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)ewh₁-Wiktionary, Latin moveo‘to move’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)owh₁éyetiWiktionary, Latin moveoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moweōWiktionary, Latin moveo‘to move’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoveōWiktionary, English mobile‘move’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōbilisWiktionary, English mobile‘easy to be moved’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1837mobileWiktionary, English mobile. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Another London Life: “His finely cut features were capable of every variety…”

The story

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).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- ‘to move’

motion, remover, 89 more

through Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh₁éyeti

movement, mover, 90 more

through Proto-Italic *moweō ‘to move’

move, momentum, automotive, promoter, emotionless, 92 more

through Latin moveō ‘move’

auto, emotional, remove, promote, motor, promotion, remote, emotion, motive, motivate, motif, removable, motility, emote, motile, 70 more

Today it means

adj Capable of being moved, especially on wheels.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mobile”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin moveo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- / mobile

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