Moves

How to spell moves

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce moves

What does moves mean?

1. verbChanges position, or shifts something from one place to another; third-person singular form of 'move'.
2. nounCalculated actions or steps, such as turns in a game or strategic decisions.

Moves in a sentence

• verb

  The cleaner moves the chairs before mopping the floor.

• noun

  Her opening moves in the chess match caught everyone by surprise.

• verb

  Every autumn she moves her desk closer to the window.

• noun

  The manager planned his career moves carefully over several years.

Where does moves come from?

Language of origin: French

This is the plural noun and third-person singular verb form of 'move', which English took from the Old French 'mover' or 'moveir', itself descended from the Latin 'movere', meaning literally 'to set in motion' or 'to stir'. The word arrived in English in the 1200s, first carrying the plain sense of changing position or shifting something physically, and only later spreading into figurative uses such as a step in a game or a calculated action. The same Latin root sits inside a whole family of common English words, including 'motion', 'motor', 'remove', 'emotion', and 'mobile', all sharing the idea of movement. The spelling stays gentle: the final '-es' simply attaches to the silent-e stem, and the 'oo' sound is written with a plain 'o-v-e', which is why nobody tends to stumble on it.

How the word is built

• mov- (from movere: to move)
• -es (plural/third-person ending)