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Definition of Impetus
1. Noun. A force that moves something along.
2. Noun. The act of applying force suddenly. "The impulse knocked him over"
Generic synonyms: Drive, Driving Force, Thrust
Derivative terms: Impel
Definition of Impetus
1. n. A property possessed by a moving body in virtue of its weight and its motion; the force with which any body is driven or impelled; momentum.
Definition of Impetus
1. Noun. Something that impels, a stimulating factor. ¹
2. Noun. A force, either internal or external, that impels; an impulse. ¹
3. Noun. The force or energy associated with a moving body; a stimulus. ¹
4. Noun. An activity in response to a stimulus. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Impetus
1. an impelling force [n -ES]
Medical Definition of Impetus
1. 1. A property possessed by a moving body in virtue of its weight and its motion; the force with which any body is driven or impelled; momentum. Momentum is the technical term, impetus its popular equivalent, yet differing from it as applied commonly to bodies moving or moved suddenly or violently, and indicating the origin and intensity of the motion, rather than its quantity or effectiveness. 2. Impulse; incentive; vigor; force. 3. The aititude through which a heavy body must fall to acquire a velocity equal to that with which a ball is discharged from a piece. Origin: L, fr. Impetere to rush upon, attack; pref. Im- in + petere to fall upon, seek. See Petition. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Impetus
Literary usage of Impetus
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The English Works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury by Thomas ( Hobbes (1845)
"First, when you say the impetus, do you mean some one impetus designed by ...
But that is the same thing with the time multiplied into the mean impetus. ..."
2. Creative Evolution by Henri Bergson (1911)
"So we come back, by a somewhat roundabout way, to the idea we started from, that
of an original impetus of life, passing from one generation of germs to the ..."
3. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann, Edward Aloysius Pace, Condé Bénoist Pallen, Thomas Joseph Shahan, John Joseph Wynne (1913)
"In a projectile, impetus is gradually destroyed by the resistance of air or other
medium and is also destroyed by the natural gravity of the body in motion, ..."
4. History of the Jews in America: From the Period of the Discovery of the New by Peter Wiernik (1912)
"impetus given to immigration to America by the reaction after the fall of
Napoleon—The second period of Jewish immigration—First legislation about ..."
5. Children's Books and Reading by William Finch Allen, Montrose Jonas Moses (1907)
"I. THE ROUSSEAU impetus. . EV LUCAS has compiled two volumes of old-fashioned
tales for modern readers. In his introductions he analyses the qualities of ..."
6. Apollo: An Illustrated Manual of the History of Art Throughout the Ages by Salomon Reinach (1907)
"The impetus given to Art by the Greek Victories over the Persians.—The Pediments
of the Temple of Aphaia at Angina.—The Pediments of the Temple of Zeus at ..."
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