Etymologically
Log in

collision

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 12:38. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kəˈlɪʒ.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French collision and directly Late Latin collīsiō (“a dashing together”),[2][3][4] from the past participle stem of Latin collīdō (“to strike together”) (see collide).[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of forcibly striking or dashing together: probably before 1425, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon,[2] 1432–50 in the OED.[5]

Semantic evolution

The meeting of two vowels with elision of one is from 1552, and the harsh coming together of sounds from 1635.[5] Figuratively, a clash of opposed ideas or interests is from 1662, and mere coming into contact from 1664.[5] In computing, two records assigned the same place in memory were a collision from 1968, and simultaneous transmission by several nodes of a network from 1982.[5]

Timeline

  • 1432–50 – a striking together.[5]
  • 1552 – elision of vowels.[5]
  • 1662 – a clash of ideas.[5]
  • 1879 – collision bulkhead (nautical).[5]
  • 1968 – collision (computing).[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A violent impact of moving objects; a crash.
  2. A conflict of opposed ideas, wishes or interests.
  3. (physics) An event in which particles come close together, resulting in a change of momentum or an exchange of energy.
  4. (computing) The simultaneous transmission of data by more than one node of a network.

Word family

  • collisional
  • collisionally
  • anticollision
  • collision course
  • elastic collision
  • collide
  • allision
  • elide
  • elision
  • lesion

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press