Etymograph

English

mobilise

Mobilise comes from French mobiliser ‘to mobilize’, from Latin mōbilis ‘movable, loose’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- ‘to move’.

  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‘to move, stir, set in motion’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōbilis3‘movable, loose’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentmobile4
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentmobiliser5‘to mobilize’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1964mobilise5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin moveo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin mobilis
  3. 3 Wiktionary, French mobile
  4. 4 Wiktionary, French mobiliser
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English mobilise
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1964, News and Comment: Whitby closure in October?: “All Whitby is mobilising against the economy plan, alleging…”.

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, Latin mobilis‘to move, stir, set in motion’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōbilisWiktionary, French mobile‘movable, loose’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentmobileWiktionary, French mobiliser
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentmobiliserWiktionary, English mobilise‘to mobilize’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1964mobiliseWiktionary, English mobilise. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1964, News and Comment: Whitby closure in October?: “All Whitby is mobilising against the economy plan, alleging…”

Linked words

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

motion, remover, 87 more

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

movement, mover, 88 more

through Proto-Italic *moweō ‘to move’

move, momentum, promoter, emotionless, 90 more

through Latin moveō ‘to move, stir, set in motion’

remove, emotional, promote, motor, promotion, remote, emotion, automotive, motive, motivate, motif, removable, emote, motility, motile, 67 more

through Latin mōbilis ‘movable, loose’

automobile, immobile, 6 more

through French mobile

auto, 8 more

Today it means

verb To make something mobile.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mobilise”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin moveo, Latin mobilis, French mobile, French mobiliser. 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- / mobilise

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