Rpm

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A measure indicating the number of full rotations completed around a fixed axis in one minute; commonly used to quantify the speed of engines, motors, and spinning devices; also refers to the playback speed of vinyl records
2. A unit expressing how many complete revolutions an object makes per sixty seconds; used to assess rotational velocity in mechanical contexts and record players; also denotes the speed standard for turntable discs
3. The count of times a rotating item turns entirely in sixty seconds; applied to gauge rotational speed in automobiles, machinery, and audio equipment; additionally, it defines the standard rotational rate for phonograph records

Etymology: "RPM" is an initialism for "revolutions per minute," and its history is essentially that of the plain English phrase it abbreviates. The abbreviation is built from ordinary words, with no borrowing from another language and no coined suffix or prefix. "Revolution" comes from the Latin "revolutio," meaning a turning back or rolling around, and in its original sense it described a complete circuit, such as the orbit of a planet. That sense of a full turn is exactly what the measure counts. The lowercase "rpm" is simply the same abbreviation written without capitals, which is the form most people use in everyday speech and in equipment listings. Because the letters stand for words rather than a single term, the same abbreviation works across automobiles, machinery, and audio equipment without any change in meaning.

Synonyms: revolutions per minute