impetus

== English == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin impetus (“a rushing upon, an attack, assault, onset”), from impetō (“to rush upon, attack”), from in- (“upon”) + petō (“to seek, fall upon”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈɪm.pə.təs/ Hyphenation: im‧pe‧tus (nonstandard, obsolete) IPA(key): /ɪmˈpiː.təs/ === Noun === impetus (plural impetuses or impetus) Anything that impels; a stimulating factor. A force, either internal or external, that impels; an impulse. The force or energy associated with a moving body; a stimulus. (history, medieval physics) A principle of motive force, held as equivalent to weight times velocity by John Buridan, in an auxiliary theory of Aristotelian dynamics introduced by John Philoponus, describing projectile motion against gravity as linear until it transitions to a vertical drop and the intellectual precursor to the concepts of inertia, momentum and acceleration in classical mechanics. An activity in response to a stimulus. ==== Related terms ==== impetuous ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== wind at one's back === References === === Further reading === “impetus”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “impetus”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. “impetus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. === Anagrams === imputes, stumpie, time's up, uptimes == Latin == === Etymology === Perhaps from earlier *impetītus, which underwent haplology; from impetō (“to rush upon, attack”) +‎ -tus. === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈɪm.pɛ.tʊs] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈim.pe.tus] === Noun === impetus m (genitive impetūs); fourth declension an attack, an assault, a charge Synonyms: incursiō, aggressiō, impressiō, invāsiō, assultus, oppugnātiō, incursus, concursus, occursiō, petītiō, appetītus, ictus, vīs, procella a rapid motion impulse, vehemence, ardor, passion Synonyms: cupīdō, vehementia, libīdō, appetītus, appetītiō, ardor, avāritia, alacritās a making for ==== Declension ==== Fourth-declension noun. ==== Derived terms ==== impetuōsus ==== Descendants ==== === References === “impetus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “impetus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers "impetus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887) “impetus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎[3], London: Macmillan and Co. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “impetus”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.