car

The word “car” means a road vehicle with an engine, wheels, and seats, used to carry a small number of people. In plain terms, a motor vehicle for driving on roads — the everyday word for automobile.

“Car” is pronounced kah (/kɑɹ/ in IPA).

Here is “car” used in a sentence: “She drove her car to work every morning.”

“Car” is a noun.

The word “car” comes from Latin. From Old North French carre, ultimately from Latin carrus, a Celtic-derived word for a wheeled cart. "Car" originally meant any wheeled vehicle long before it meant an automobile.

“Car” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

“Car” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a road vehicle with an engine, wheels, and seats, used to carry a small number of people.

'Vehicle' is the wide term for anything that transports people or goods — cars, buses, lorries, motorbikes, even bicycles. A car is one specific kind of vehicle: a small road machine with an engine, wheels, and seats for a few passengers. Every car is a vehicle, but not every vehicle is a car.

A car is built mainly to carry a small number of passengers, while a truck (or lorry) is built to carry goods and heavy loads. Trucks are usually larger, taller, and more powerful, often with an open bed or cargo box. Cars focus on comfort and everyday travel rather than hauling.

Cars are often grouped by shape and size, such as hatchbacks, saloons (sedans), estates, SUVs, coupés, and convertibles. They can also be classed by fuel or power, including petrol, diesel, hybrid, and fully electric models. The right type depends on how many people and how much luggage you need to carry.

There is no difference in meaning — 'automobile' is simply the more formal and more American word for a car. In British English, 'car' is standard and 'automobile' is rarely used in speech. Both describe the same engine-powered road vehicle designed to carry a few passengers.