motorcar

motorcar — noun

1. a road vehicle with an engine and four wheels, used for carrying people

1.nounC1
Definition

a road vehicle with an engine and four wheels, used for carrying people

Example

Mateo polished the vintage motorcar before the town festival began.

collocation: vintage motorcar

A black motorcar waited outside the hotel for the visiting prince.

Common collocations
  • vintage motorcar
  • drive a motorcar
  • motorcar owner
Synonyms
  • car

    the normal everyday word in modern English for this kind of road vehicle

  • automobile

    a more formal or technical word, especially in North American usage

  • vehicle

    a broader term that can include buses, trucks, and other road transport

Usage Note

This word is now much less common than car in everyday English. You are most likely to see it in older writing, historical contexts, or formal descriptions.

Common Mistakes

I parked my motorcar outside the mall.
I parked my car outside the mall.
In everyday modern English, people normally say 'car'; 'motorcar' sounds old-fashioned or formal.

2. a railway carriage that moves with its own motor instead of being pulled by a se

2.nounC2
Definition

a railway carriage that moves with its own motor instead of being pulled by a separate engine

Example

Workers tested the new motorcar on the branch line before dawn.

context: rail branch line

The single motorcar carried commuters from the harbor to the hill station.

context: single self-powered rail vehicle

Common collocations
  • branch-line motorcar
  • board the motorcar
  • single motorcar
Synonyms
  • railcar

    a close modern term for a railway vehicle that can move on its own or as a unit

  • carriage

    a more general railway term that does not imply the car has its own motor

  • tramcar

    used for a street-running electric rail vehicle, not for every railway motorcar

Usage Note

Usually names a single railway car with its own power. It does not refer to a full train or to an ordinary carriage that must be pulled by a locomotive.

Common Mistakes

The engine pulled one motorcar behind it.
The engine pulled one carriage behind it.
A motorcar in this sense moves by its own motor, so it is not described as a car being hauled by another engine.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Car is the normal everyday word for a private road vehicle, so most speakers would choose it instead of motorcar. Automobile is more formal and often appears in technical, legal, or older North American writing. Vehicle is much broader: it can mean a car, but it can also refer to buses, trucks, vans, or other machines used for transport. Because of that, vehicle is useful when the exact type does not matter, while motorcar points to a passenger road car in a more old-fashioned style. For example, a museum label might mention a restored motorcar, but a family would usually say they bought a new car. A police report might use vehicle if the type is still unknown.

car ↗automobile ↗vehicle ↗

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Motorcar is a compound formed in English by joining motor and car. The word appeared in the late nineteenth century, when self-powered road vehicles began to spread. Motor comes from a Latin root meaning 'to move', while car had already been used for wheeled vehicles for centuries. Together, the compound originally highlighted that this was a car moved by an engine rather than by a horse.

First known use

1878

1878, in the meaning defined at sense 2