moment
Use Moment in a sentence
mənt noun
1.
an indefinitely short period of time; instant: I'll be with you in a moment.
2.
the present time or any other particular time (usually preceded by the ): He is busy at the moment.
3.
a definite period or stage, as in a course of events; juncture: at this moment in history.
4.
importance or consequence: a decision of great moment.
5.
a particular time or period of success, excellence, fame, etc.: His big moment came in the final game.
Origin:
1300–50; Middle English < Latin mōmentum motion, cause of motion, hence, influence, importance, essential factor, moment of time, equivalent to mō- (variant stem of movēre to move) + -mentum -ment
1300–50; Middle English < Latin mōmentum motion, cause of motion, hence, influence, importance, essential factor, moment of time, equivalent to mō- (variant stem of movēre to move) + -mentum -ment
Synonyms
1. second, jiffy, trice, flash, twinkling. See minute1. 4. significance, weight, gravity. See importance.
1. second, jiffy, trice, flash, twinkling. See minute1. 4. significance, weight, gravity. See importance.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To moment
00:10
Moment
is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
moment (ˈməʊmənt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a short indefinite period of time: he'll be here in a moment |
| 2. | a specific instant or point in time: at that moment the doorbell rang |
| 3. | the moment the present point of time: at the moment it's fine |
| 4. | import, significance, or value: a man of moment |
| 5. | physics |
| a. a tendency to produce motion, esp rotation about a point or axis | |
| b. See also moment of inertia the product of a physical quantity, such as force or mass, and its distance from a fixed reference point | |
| 6. | statistics the mean of a specified power of the deviations of all the values of a variable in its frequency distribution. The power of the deviations indicates the order of the moment and the deviations may be from the origin (giving a moment about the origin) or from the mean (giving a moment about the mean) |
| [C14: from Old French, from Latin mōmentum, from movēre to move] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
moment
mid-14c., "very brief portion of time, instant," in moment of time, from O.Fr. moment, from L. momentum "movement, moving power," also "instant, importance," contraction of *movimentum, from movere "to move" (see move). Some (but not OED) explain the sense evolution of the
L. word by notion of a particle so small it would just "move" the pointer of a scale, which led to the transferred sense of "minute time division." Sense of "importance, 'weight' " is attested in English from 1520s. Phrase never a dull moment first recorded 1889 in Jerome K. Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat." Phrase moment of truth first recorded 1932 in Hemingway's "Death in the Afternoon," from Sp. el momento de la verdad, the final sword-thrust in a bull-fight.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
moment
In addition to the idiom beginning with moment, also see at this point (moment); every minute (moment) counts; for the moment; have one's moments; just a minute (moment); live for the moment; never a dull moment; not for a moment; of the moment; on the spur of the moment; weak moment.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Example sentences
The subsequent arrival of other commercial media besides books didn't alter the legal importance of this moment.
There can be an awkward moment after the introducer suddenly stops and it's my turn to finally start speaking.
And what it lacks in color at the moment it makes up for in scent.
Wright, who died that same year, used to be the architect of the moment.
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