Etymologically
Log in

movement

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 15:50. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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In 1490 movement was used for “moment”, now obsolete.[6] A move in chess, from 1734, is obsolete.[6] The tactical movement of troops is from 1784.[6] In music a movement is a major division of a piece, from 1776.[2] In the social, political and artistic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

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