momentum

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌmə(ʊ)ˈmɛntəm/ (UK); /ˌmoʊˈmɛntəm/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin mōmentum (“movement, moving power”), from *movimentum, from movēre, to move;^[2][3][4] it is a doublet of moment.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1610;^[5] the SOED's first sense, a turning motion, is early 17th century and long obsolete.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The scientific sense in mechanics, the quantity of motion of a moving body, the product of its mass and velocity, is from 1699 (the 1690s).^[2][7][3] The figurative sense, force gained by movement, an impelling force, is from 1782,^[3][7] and in popular use the effect of inertia in keeping something moving from 1860.^[7]

Timeline

• 1610 – first known use.^[5]
• 1699 – quantity of motion (mechanics).^[7]
• 1782 – impetus (figurative).^[7]
• 1860 – continuance of motion (popular).^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (physics) The product of a body's mass and its velocity.
2. The force or impetus of a moving body.
3. The driving force of a process or course of events: the campaign gained momentum.

Word family

• angular momentum

Related words

• moment
• move
• motion
• impetus

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press