locomotion

UK/ləʊ.kəˈməʊ.ʃən/US/ˌloʊ.kəˈmoʊ.ʃən/

nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,287 of 15,258leans written

Locomotion is the power or act of moving from place to place. Means of locomotion, animal locomotion, human locomotion.

It is the technical word in biology and engineering for how a body gets about, whether by legs, wings or wheels. Locomotion was also the name of an early railway engine, which is where locomotive comes from.

Definitions of locomotion

1nounlocomotionThe power or act of moving from place to place.C2
“Snakes use an unusual form of locomotion, sliding along without any legs.”

locomotion is a movement.

Where it comes from

Latin loco, from a place, plus motio, a moving, from movere, to move.

Proto-Indo-European
*m(y)ewh₁-
Latin
locō
French
locomotion
English, today
locomotion

Built from

locus · Latin — place
mōtiōnem · Latin — motion, a moving

From French locomotion, from Latin locō literally “from a place” (ablative of locus (“place”)) + mōtiōnem (“motion, a moving”) (nominative mōtio), from Latin moveō (“move; change, exchange, go in or out, quit”), from Proto-Indo-European m(y)ewh₁- (“to move, drive”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

locomotion in the wild

Several groups of modern species are habitual bipeds whose normal method of locomotion is two-legged.
Bipedalism
In ethology, animal locomotion is any of a variety of methods that animals use to move from one place to another.
Animal locomotion
Some modes of locomotion are (initially) self-propelled, e.g., running, swimming, jumping, flying, hopping, soaring and gliding.
Animal locomotion
Autonomous robot locomotion is a major technological obstacle for many areas of robotics, such as humanoids (like Honda's Asimo).
Robot locomotion
Fish locomotion is the various types of animal locomotion used by fish, principally by swimming.
Fish locomotion

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the locō family

locate

locomotion — used about once every 20,553 pages · #13,287 · point at the bar for the others

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