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.
EXPANDa particular time or period of success, excellence, fame, etc.: His big moment came in the final game.
6.
7.
Philosophy.
a.
an aspect of a thing.
b.
Obsolete. an essential or constituent factor.
8.
COLLAPSEMechanics.
a.
a tendency to produce motion, especially about an axis.
b.
the product of a physical quantity and its directed distance from an axis: moment of area; moment of mass.
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. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Moments
is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
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
EXPAND 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.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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