locomotive

English

A steam locomotive.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˌləʊkəʊˈməʊtiv/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

locomotive (plural locomotives)

1. (rail transport) The power unit of a train which does not carry passengers or freight itself, but pulls the coaches or rail cars or wagons.
2. (rare) A traction engine
3. (slang) A cheer characterized by a slow beginning and a progressive increase in speed
4. (economics) A country which drives the world economy by having a high level of imports. (i.e. The United States).

Usage notes

Sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for train.

Translations

self-propelled vehicle that runs on rails

• Armenian: շոգեքարշ (hy) (šogekʿarš), ջերմաքարշ (hy) (ǰermakʿarš), էլեկտրաքարշ (hy) (ēlektrakʿarš), լոկոմոտիվ (hy) (lokomotiv)
• Bulgarian: локомотив (bg) (lokomotív) m
• Catalan: locomotora (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 火車頭 (cmn), 火车头 (cmn) (huǒchētóu); 機車頭 (cmn), 机车头 (cmn) (jīchētóu)

• Czech: lokomotiva (cs) f
• Danish: lokomotiv (da)
• Dutch: locomotief, lokomotief (rare)
• Estonian: vedur (et)
• Finnish: veturi (fi)
• French: locomotive (fr) f
• German: Lokomotive (de) f
• Greek: ατμομηχανή (el) (atmomichaní) f
• Japanese: 機関車 (ja) (きかんしゃ, kikansha)
• Kurdish: lokomotîv (ku) f
• Macedonian: локомотива (mk) (lokomotíva) f

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lokomotiv (nb) n

  Nynorsk: lokomotiv (nn) n

• Polish: lokomotywa (pl) f
• Russian: локомотив (ru) (lokomotív) m, паровоз (ru) (parovóz) m, тепловоз (ru) (teplovóz) m, электровоз (ru) (elektrovóz) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: локомоти́ва (sh) f

  Roman: lokomotíva (sh) f

• Slovak: rušeň (sk) m
• Slovene: lokomotiva (sl) f
• Spanish: locomotora (es) f
• Swedish: lok (sv), lokomotiv (sv)
• Turkish: lokomotif (tr)
• Ukrainian: локомотив (uk) (lokomotýv) m

Etymology

Pertaining to movement from French locomotif (feminine locomotive), from Latin loco from a place (ablativus of locus place) + Vulgar Latin motivus moving (see motive)

Adjective

locomotive (comparative more locomotive, superlative most locomotive)

1. of or relating to locomotion
2. of or relating to the power unit of a train which does not carry passengers or freight itself

Translations

relating to locomotion

• Greek: κινητήριος (el) (kinitírios) m

• Spanish: locomotor (es)

---

French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

• Homophone: locomotives

Adjective

locomotive

1. feminine form of locomotif

Noun

locomotive f (plural locomotives)

1. locomotive

---

Italian

Noun

locomotive f

1. Plural form of locomotiva