Word.ws English Dictionary

perpetuum mobile

/pəːˌpɛtjʊəm ˈməʊbɪleɪ/

perpetuum mobile noun: a perpetual motion machine.

Noun

perpetuum mobile (plural perpetua mobilia)

  1. A perpetual motion machine.
  2. Pieces of music, or parts of pieces, characterised by a continuous steady stream of notes, usually at a rapid tempo.
  3. Whole pieces, or large parts of pieces, which are to be played repeatedly, often an indefinite number of times.

Forms of perpetuum mobile

pluralperpetua mobilia

Origin of perpetuum mobile

From Latin perpetuum (neutral inflection of perpetuus “perpetual”) + Latin mōbile (neutrum of mōbilis “mobile, moving”), used together as a noun, thus literally meaning “perpetual mover”. Although often said to literally mean “perpetual motion”, the latter in Latin is mōtus perpetuus. A perpetuum mobile is a device that exhibits perpetual motion.

Questions about perpetuum mobile

What does perpetuum mobile mean?
Perpetuum mobile means a perpetual motion machine.
What part of speech is perpetuum mobile?
Perpetuum mobile is a noun.
How do you pronounce perpetuum mobile?
Perpetuum mobile is pronounced /pəːˌpɛtjʊəm ˈməʊbɪleɪ/.
What is the plural of perpetuum mobile?
The plural of perpetuum mobile is perpetua mobilia.

Words near perpetuum mobile in the dictionary

  1. perpetuators
  2. perpetuities
  3. perpetuity
  4. perpetuous
  5. perpetuously
  6. perpetuum mobile
  7. perpeyn
  8. perphenazine
  9. perphenazines
  10. Perpignan
  11. perpin

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: perpetuum mobile (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “perpetuum mobile.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/perpetuum_mobile. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.