car

Definitions

From carrus, a Celtic-Latin wheeled wagon. For centuries 'car' meant any cart or chariot. The modern automobile sense is a 20th-century clipping of 'motor car' — the old wheeled-vehicle word stretched to cover the new machine.

Why It Means This

It's easy to think 'car' is a modern invention, but it's one of the oldest words in this family — older than the automobile by two thousand years. Latin carrus (a wagon) gave English 'car' meaning a cart or chariot. When the motor car arrived around 1900, people simply shortened 'motor car' to 'car,' reusing the ancient word for the newest machine.

Common Collocations

• 1.drive a car开车
• 2.park the car停车
• 3.car park停车场
• 4.electric car电动车

Example Sentences

• 1.

  They bought a new electric car last month.

• 2.

  We left the car in the parking lot near the station.

• 3.

  It takes about two hours to get there by car.