"Driver"/"Operator"/more...

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WITHOUT PREJUDICE
I figure I'd post some definitions related to the right to travel. What are they telling us when they say "drive through" or "drive in"? Aren't they trying to raise money with their drive throughs and drive ins? Is an automobile a commodity? Is driver trying to raising money as he deals agressively in automobiles or other commodities? How might a motor vehicle and a private motor vehicle differ? Is a driver a transmitting utility?

drive (v.) O.E. drifan (class I strong verb; past tense draf, pp. drifen), from P.Gmc. *dribanan (cf. O.N. drifa, Goth. dreiban), not found outside Gmc. Original sense of "pushing from behind," altered in Mod.Eng. by application to automobiles. Golfing sense of "forcible blow" is from 1836. Meaning "organized effort to raise money" is 1889, Amer.Eng. The noun, in the computing sense, first attested 1963. Drive-in (adj.) first recorded 1930, of restaurants, banks, movies, etc. Drive-through first attested 1949, in an advertisement for the Beer Vault Drive-Thru in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Driveway is from 1875.

"The more you drive, the less intelligent you are." ["Repo Man"]

operate 1606, "to be in effect," from L. operari "to work, labor" (in L.L. "to have effect, be active, cause"), see operation. Surgical sense is first attested 1799. Meaning "to work machinery" is from 1864 in Amer.Eng. Operator is first recorded 1597, "one who performs mechanical or surgical operations." Meaning "one who carries on business shrewdly" is from 1828. Specific sense of "one who works a telephone switchboard" (1884) grew out of earlier meaning "one who works a telegraph" (1847).

chauffeur 1899, originally "a motorist," from Fr., lit. "stoker," operator of a steam engine, Fr. nickname for early motorists, from chauffer "to heat," from O.Fr. chaufer (see chafe). The first motor-cars were steam-driven. Sense of "professional or paid driver of a private motor car" is from 1902. The verb is first attested 1917.

motor 1447, from L. motor, lit. "mover," from movere "to move" (see move). From 15c. as "controller, prime mover" (in reference to God); sense of "agent or force that produces mechanical motion" is first recorded 1664; that of "machine that supplies motive power" is from 1856. With explosive use 20c. as a comb. form of motor-car. First record of motor-cycle attested 1896; motor-boat is from 1902. Motor-car is from 1895; motorist is from 1896. For motorcade (1913) see cavalcade. First record of slang motor-mouth "fast-talking person" is from 1971.

op·er·a·tor Pronunciation (p-rtr)
n.
1. One who operates a machine or device: a switchboard operator.
2. The owner or manager of a business or an industrial enterprise.
3. One who deals aggressively in stocks or commodities.
4. Informal A person who is adept at accomplishing goals through shrewd or unscrupulous maneuvers.
5. Mathematics A function, especially one from a set to itself, such as differentiation of a differentiable function or rotation of a vector.
6. A logical operator.
7. Genetics A chromosomal segment of DNA that regulates the activity of the structural genes of an operon by interacting with a specific repressor.

driv·er Pronunciation (drvr)
n.
1. One that drives, as the operator of a motor vehicle.
2. A tool, such as a screwdriver or hammer, that is used for imparting forceful pressure on another object.
3. A machine part that transmits motion or power to another part.
4. Computer Science A piece of software that enables a computer to communicate with a peripheral device.
5. Sports A golf club with a wide head and a long shaft, used for making long shots from the tee.
6. Nautical A jib-headed spanker.

mo·tor·ist Pronunciation (mtr-st)
n.
One who drives or travels in an automotive vehicle.

sojourn c.1290, from O.Fr. sojorner "stay or dwell for a time," from V.L. *subdiurnare "to spend the day," from L. sub- "under, until" + diurnus "of a day," from diurnum "day" (see diurnal). Fr. séjourner formed via vowel dissimilation.

travel (v.) c.1375, "to journey," from travailen (1300) "to make a journey," originally "to toil, labor" (see travail). The semantic development may have been via the notion of "go on a difficult journey," but it may also reflect the difficulty of going anywhere in the Middle Ages. Replaced O.E. faran. Travels "accounts of journeys" is recorded from 1591. Traveled "experienced in travel" is from 1413. Traveling salesman is attested from 1885.

journey c.1225, "a defined course of traveling," from O.Fr. journée "day's work or travel," from V.L. diurnum "day," noun use of neut. of L. diurnus "of one day" (see diurnal). As recently as Johnson (1755) the primary sense was still "the travel of a day." The verb is from c.1330. Journeyman (1424), "one who works by day," preserves the etymological sense. Its Amer.Eng. colloquial shortening jour (adj.) is attested from 1835.