Automakers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Entities engaged in the design, manufacturing, and marketing of motor vehicles
2. companies that produce cars and trucks, playing a key role in the automotive industry
3. businesses involved in the development and sale of vehicles, contributing to transportation and mobility advancements

Etymology: "Automaker" is a plain compound: "auto," short for "automobile," joined to "maker," from Old English "macian," a common verb meaning to make or form. The first half is itself a clipping of a 19th-century coinage. "Automobile" was adopted into English from French in the 1890s, and it was built from the Greek "autos," meaning "self," plus the Latin-derived "mobile," meaning "moving." So the word describes a maker of self-moving vehicles, a phrase that once sounded futuristic when cars were new. "Auto" was first clipped from "automobile" and used as a noun in the early 1900s, and "automaker" followed as a compound of it with "maker." The term became common in American English as the car industry grew, and it is used there more often than the British-leaning "car manufacturer."

Synonyms: car manufacturers, vehicle producers