velocity

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /vɪˈlɒs.ə.ti/, US /vəˈlɑː.sə.t̬i/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin vēlōcitās (“swiftness, speed”), perhaps through Middle French vélocité,^[2][3][4][5] from vēlōx (“swift, rapid”),^[2][3][4] a word of uncertain origin, perhaps related to vehō (“to carry”).^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rapidity, speed: probably before 1425, in a translation of Chauliac's surgery, in Barnhart; the early 15th century in Etymonline, about 1550 in the OED.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

In physics, a relative rate of motion is from 1656,^[6][3] and speed together with direction, as a vector, from 1847.^[6] Rapidity of action is from before 1674,^[6] and in economics the rate at which money changes hands from 1909.^[6]

Timeline

• probably before 1425 – speed.^[2]
• 1656 – a rate of motion.^[6]
• 1847 – velocity as a vector.^[6]
• 1909 – velocity of money.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Speed; swiftness.
2. (physics) The rate of change of position in a particular direction; speed together with direction, a vector quantity.
3. The rate at which something happens.
4. (economics) The rate at which money changes hands.

Word family

• velocimeter

Related words

• velocipede
• velodrome
• vehicle

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press