motorist

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁-der. Proto-Italic *moweō Latin moveō Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Latin mōtorder. Middle English motour English motor Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist English motorist From motor + -ist.

1. One who drives a motor vehicle.

   “Moreover, the motorist, even if the speed at which he travelled enabled him to appreciate what he saw, does not see the country at all. What he does see is a tarred road, a couple of blackened or dust-covered hedges, and a stream of other motorists.”

   “In a poll released last week, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 58 percent of drivers consider other motorists talking on a cellphone to be a very serious threat and that 87 percent consider motorists e-mailing or texting to be such a threat.”