movement

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmuːv.mənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mevement, movement,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French movement (“movement, exercise; start, instigation”) (modern French mouvement),^[2][3] from Medieval Latin movimentum,^[2][4][5] from Latin movēre (“to move, set in motion”),^[2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *meue- (“to push away”).^[2] Merriam-Webster derives the French word from movoir “to move” and the suffix -ment.^[3] It is related to move.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Change of position, passage from place to place: about 1374,^[6] the late 14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In 1490 movement was used for “moment”, now obsolete.^[6] A move in chess, from 1734, is obsolete.^[6] The tactical movement of troops is from 1784.^[6] In music a movement is a major division of a piece, from 1776.^[2] In the social, political and artistic sense, a series of actions by a group of people working towards some goal, it is from 1828.^[2] The activities of a person, movements, is from 1833,^[6] and the moving of cattle between districts from 1869.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1374 – change of position.^[6]
• 1490 – used for “moment” (obsolete).^[6]
• 1776 – a part of a piece of music.^[2]
• 1784 – a military movement.^[6]
• 1828 – a social or political movement.^[2]
• 1833 – a person's movements.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of moving; a change of position.
2. A group of people working together for a shared cause: the labour movement.
3. A change in position of troops, ships or aircraft.
4. (music) A main section of a long work such as a symphony.
5. (plural) A person's activities over a period of time.

Word family

• countermovement
• bowel movement
• Brownian movement
• Oxford movement
• pincer movement
• rapid eye movement

Related words

• move
• motion
• motive
• mobile
• moment
• emotion
• remove

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 d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press