Virgo 20: An automobile caravan

T h e w o r d a ut omo bi l e i s c o mp r i s e d o f t h e b a s e mo bil e a n d t h e p r e fi x auto - , w h i c h m e a n s se l f . T h e b a s e d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e I n d o - E u r op e a n ( IE ) r o o t meue 1 w h i c h me a n s t o p u s h a w a y. 1 O t h e r d e r i v a t i v e s i n c l u d e m o b , m o me n t,

m o m e n t u m, m o t io n, m o ti ve , mo t o r, m o ve , m o ve me n t, co m m o t i o n, e m ot i on , p ro m o t e, re m ot e, a n d re m o ve .
T h e w o r d c a r av a n d e s c e n d s f r o m t he M i d d l e F re n c h ca rava n e a n d t h e O l d F r e n c h c a ro u an w h i c h w a s p i c k e d u p d u r i n g t h e C ru s a d e s f r o m t h e P e r s i a n ka rwa n a n d w h i c h m e a n s gr o u p o f d e s e r t t r a ve l e r s . " 2 TH EMES : T h e w o r d mo bi l e m e a n s c a p a b l e o f m o vi n g o r o f b e i n g m o v e d r e a d i l y f r o m p l a c e t o p l a c e . 3 T h e w o r d c a r av a n d e s c e n d s f r o m a w o r d t h a t r e f e r s e ss e n t i a l l y t o a g r o up o f p e o p le o n t h e m o v e , i . e . t r a v e l e r s. A d d i t i on a l l y , i t i s f r o m t h e w o r d c a r av an t ha t w e g e t t he E n g l i s h w o r d va n , a n e n c l os e d b o x l i k e m o t o r v e h i c le ha v i n g r e a r o r si d e d o o r s a n d s i d e p a n e l s e sp e ci a l l y f o r t r a n s p o r t i n g p e op l e . 4 T h e t h e me h e r e i s MOB IL IT Y . A s e c o n d t he m e c on c e r n s t h e I ND IVIDUA L A ND TH E GROU P . R e ca l l t h a t t h e p re f i x a ut o - m e a n s s e l f w h i l e t he w o r d c a r av a n re fe r s t o a g r o u p ( o f t r a v e le r s ) .

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Watkins, c. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, p. 55 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=caravan http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/mobile http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/van Starling Hunter 2011 1