Momentums

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A driving force gained by movement; a product of mass and velocity that affects the motion of an object; the impetus or energy influencing change in a situation or process
2. The quantity that describes the motion of a body as its mass times velocity; a force that propels or pushes forward in action; an influential element contributing to progress or development
3. The measure of the motion of an object determined by its mass times its speed; a catalyst for change driven by initial movement or energy; the dynamic force behind the advancement of events or ideas

Etymology: "Momentums" is the plural of "momentum," a noun that English borrowed from Latin "mōmentum," a word whose core sense was a physical movement or tipping force. The Latin term was itself shaped by a shortening of "movimentum," so the word and its relatives "moment" and "movement" are doublets, siblings that split off from the same source and entered English by different routes. The Latin "mōmentum" was used for the turning force that tips a balance, which is why the word's sense of weight in motion is so literal at its root. In English, the physical sense of momentum as mass times speed came to dominate scientific writing, while the figurative sense of a force carrying events forward developed alongside it. The plural "momentums" is less common than "momenta," the Latin-derived form that physicists have long preferred, though both appear in print.

Synonyms: impulses, forces, drives, energies

Antonyms: stillness, inertia