moment English · revision 2533

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1340|origins=la movēre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈməʊ.mənt/, US /ˈmoʊ.mənt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|moment]], [[bor|fro|moment|t=moment, minute; importance, weight]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) or directly from [[la|mōmentum|t=movement, moving power; importance; moment of time, particle]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) a contraction of [[m|la|*movimentum]], from [[m|la|movēre|t=to move]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Etymonline traces it to [[ine-pro|*meue-|t=to push away]].^(Etymonline) Some explain the Latin sense “instant” from a particle just heavy enough to move the pointer of a scale,^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) a view the OED does not share.^(Etymonline) It is a doublet of [[momentum]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) and related to [[move]] and [[movement]].^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A portion of time too brief to measure, an instant: 1340;^(OED 1989) Barnhart's first example is about 1380, in Chaucer's ''Boethius''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 14th century a ''moment'' was also a small particle,^(Hoad 1986) and between 1398 and the 18th century it was sometimes used for a second.^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) “Importance, weight”, as in ''of great moment'', is from 1522^(HTOED) or the 16th century.^(Hoad 1986) A motive or cause of action is from 1611 to 1736.^(HTOED) The critical or decisive moment is from 1666,^(HTOED) and ''the moment'' as the fitting time from 1781.^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) In mechanics and mathematics the word took technical senses from 1706.^(HTOED) ''Moment of truth'', the final sword thrust of a bullfight, translates Spanish ''el momento de la verdad'' and is first recorded in Hemingway's ''Death in the Afternoon'' (1932).^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) ''Momentary'' is from about 1460, in Lydgate.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1340 – an instant.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1380 – in Chaucer's ''Boethius''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1398 – a second (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1460 – ''momentary''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1522 – importance.^(HTOED)

+ * 1666 – a critical moment.^(HTOED)

+ * 1706 – in mechanics and calculus.^(HTOED)

+ * 1781 – the fitting moment.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1932 – ''moment of truth'' (Hemingway).^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A brief, indefinite interval of time.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A particular point in time, especially the present.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A period of importance in a series of events.^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+ # Importance or [[significance]]: ''a matter of great moment''.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+ # ''(physics)'' The tendency of a force to cause rotation about a point; the product of a quantity and its distance from a point.^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+ # ''(statistics)'' The [[expected value]] of a power of a variable.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[momentum]]

+ * [[momentous]]

+ * [[momentary]]

+ * [[move]]

+ * [[movement]]

+ * [[motion]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary distinguishes ''moment'', a short but not insignificant time, from ''instant'', a time almost too brief to detect, as well as from ''minute'', ''second'', ''jiffy'' and ''flash''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}