inertia - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

in·er·tia

Audio Help [in-ur-shuh, i-nur-] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	inertness, esp. with regard to effort, motion, action, and the like; inactivity; sluggishness.

Physics.

a.	the property of matter by which it retains its state of rest or its velocity along a straight line so long as it is not acted upon by an external force.

b.	an analogous property of a force: electric inertia.

3.	Medicine/Medical. lack of activity, esp. as applied to a uterus during childbirth when its contractions have decreased or stopped.

[Origin: 1705–15; < L: lack of skill, slothfulness. See inert, -ia

]

—Related forms

in·er·tial, adjective

—Synonyms 1. torpor, inaction, laziness.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
inertia

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

in·er·tia Audio Help (ĭ-nûr'shə) Pronunciation Key
n.

Physics The tendency of a body to resist acceleration; the tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest or of a body in straight line motion to stay in motion in a straight line unless acted on by an outside force.
Resistance or disinclination to motion, action, or change: the inertia of an entrenched bureaucracy.

[Latin, idleness, from iners, inert-, inert; see inert.]

in·er'tial adj., in·er'tial·ly adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
inertia

1713, used as a term in physics 17c. by Ger. astronomer and physician Johann Kepler (1571-1630), from L. inertia "unskillfulness, idleness," from iners (gen. inertis) "unskilled, inactive," see inert. Used in Mod.L. by Newton (1687). Sense of "apathy" first recorded 1822.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

inertia
noun
1.	a disposition to remain inactive or inert; "he had to overcome his inertia and get back to work" [syn: inactiveness] [ant: activeness]
2.	(physics) the tendency of a body to maintain its state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
iˈnertia [-ʃiə] noun

the state of being inert
Example: It was difficult to overcome the feeling of inertia that the wine and heat had brought on.

Arabic:	فُتور، خُمول، جُمود
Chinese (Simplified):	惰性
Chinese (Traditional):	惰性
Czech:	ochablost
Danish:	inerti; træghed
Dutch:	inertie
Estonian:	loidus
Finnish:	velttous
French:	inertie
German:	die Trägheit
Greek:	αδράνεια
Hungarian:	tehetetlenség
Icelandic:	aðgerðaleysi; sljóleiki
Indonesian:	kelesuan
Italian:	inerzia

Japanese:	だるさ
Korean:	활발치 못함
Latvian:	inertums; kūtrums
Lithuanian:	inertiškumas, neveiklumas, apatija
Norwegian:	slapphet, uvirksomhet
Polish:	bezwład
Portuguese (Brazil):	inércia
Portuguese (Portugal):	inércia
Romanian:	inerţie
Russian:	инертность, вялость
Slovak:	ochabnutosť, nečinnosť
Slovenian:	inertnost
Spanish:	inercia
Swedish:	tröghet, slöhet
Turkish:	eylemsizlik, tembellik

See also: inert

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

inertia Audio Help (ĭ-nûr'shə) Pronunciation Key
The resistance of a body to changes in its momentum. Because of inertia, a body at rest remains at rest, and a body in motion continues moving in a straight line and at a constant speed, unless a force is applied to it. Mass can be considered a measure of a body's inertia. See more at Newton's laws of motion, See also mass.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
inertia [(i-nur-shuh)]

In physics, the tendency for objects at rest to remain at rest, and for objects in uniform motion to continue in motion in a straight line, unless acted on by an outside force. (See Newton's laws of motion.)

[Chapter:] Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Inertia

In*er"ti*a\, n. [L., idleness, fr. iners idle. See Inert.]

1. (Physics) That property of matter by which it tends when at rest to remain so, and when in motion to continue in motion, and in the same straight line or direction, unless acted on by some external force; -- sometimes called vis inerti[ae].

2. Inertness; indisposition to motion, exertion, or action; want of energy; sluggishness.

Men . . . have immense irresolution and inertia. --Carlyle.

3. (Med.) Want of activity; sluggishness; -- said especially of the uterus, when, in labor, its contractions have nearly or wholly ceased.

Center of inertia. (Mech.) See under Center.

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