move (English)
Where does "move" come from?
The English verb 'move' comes from Middle English 'moven'[1]. This traveled through Old Northern French 'mover' and Old French 'mouver', which derive from the Latin verb 'movēre' meaning 'move, change, exchange, go in or out, quit'[1]. The Latin term ultimately descends from the Proto-Indo-European root '*m(y)ewh₁-' meaning 'to move, drive'[1][2]. This historical term eventually displaced the native English word 'stir'[1].
Open questions
- The Proto-Italic form is derived from an earlier causative form whose root vowel was taken from an aorist stem. [3]
Full etymology tree
- move (English), 'To change place or posture; to go, in any manner, from one place or position to another.'
- inherited moven (Middle English)
- borrowed mover (Old French), 'alternative form of movoir'
- inherited movere (Latin), 'inflection of moveō:'
- inherited *moweō (Proto-Italic), 'to move'
- inherited *m(y)ewh₁- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to move'
- inherited *moweō (Proto-Italic), 'to move'
- inherited movere (Latin), 'inflection of moveō:'
- borrowed mover (Old French), 'alternative form of movoir'
- inherited moven (Middle English)
Ancestors
- *m(y)ewh₁- (Proto-Indo-European)
- mover (Old French)
- moveo (Latin)
Descendants and derived words
- movement (English)
- moven (Dutch)
- angels moving the furniture (English)
- anything that moves (English)
- café de move-on (English)
- CHAdeMO (English)
- comove (English)
- earth-moving (English)
- earth-moving (English)
- ever-moving (English)
- faith can move mountains (English)
- faith will move mountains (English)
Sources
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris