Movere

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To cause motion or change position; to influence emotions or thoughts; to perform an action that results in movement
2. To shift from one place to another; to inspire or stir feelings; to undertake physical activity that changes location
3. To put something into motion or alter its place; to evoke a response or feeling in someone; to execute physical displacement or relocation

Etymology: "Movere" is the Latin verb meaning "to move," "set in motion," or "to stir," and it is the ancestor of most English words built on "mov-" and "mot-." Its past participle "motus" ("moved") gave English "motion," "motor," and "emotion," while "movere" itself passed into English through Old French "mover" and Middle English "meven," which is the root of the modern verb "move." That two-step route explains why English has both "move" from French and a Latin-looking cousin like "motion" that came in more directly. The most surprising part is how often "movere" has been used to name things that are not physical motion at all. Medieval Latin speakers used "motio" for a stirring of the mind or a mental impulse, and English "emotion," coined in the 1500s from French "émouvoir" (a compound of "ex-" and "movere," meaning "to stir up"), turned that inner stirring into a feeling. Ordinary English "move" also gained meanings like "to propose" or "to change one's residence," showing how far a single Latin idea of setting things going has spread.

Synonyms: move, motivate, stir, impel, activate

Antonyms: stop, immobilize, halt, restrain, inhibit