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Mo·bile (mō-bēl, mōbēl′)
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A city of southwest Alabama at the mouth of the Mobile River, about 61 km (38 mi) long, on the north shore of Mobile Bay, an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Founded c. 1710, the city was held by the French, British, and Spanish until it was seized by US forces in 1813. In the Battle of Mobile Bay (August 1864), Adm. David Farragut defeated a major Confederate flotilla and secured Union control of the area.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
mo·bile (mōbəl, -bēl′, -bīl′)
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adj.
1.
a. Capable of moving or of being moved readily from place to place: a mobile organism; a mobile missile system.
b. Of or relating to wireless communication devices, such as cellphones.
2.
a. Capable of moving or changing quickly from one state or condition to another: a mobile, expressive face.
b. Fluid; unstable: a mobile situation following the coup.
3.
a. Marked by the easy intermixing of different social groups: a mobile community.
b. Moving relatively easily from one social class or level to another: an upwardly mobile generation.
c. Tending to travel and relocate frequently: a restless, mobile society.
4. Flowing freely; fluid: a mobile liquid.
n.
1. (mōbēl′) A type of sculpture consisting of carefully equilibrated parts that move, especially in response to air currents.
2. A mobile phone.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin mōbilis, from *movibilis, from movēre, to move; see meuə- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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