impetus

Definitions


[ˈɪmpɪtəs], (Noun)

Definitions:
- the force or energy with which a body moves
(e.g: hit the booster coil before the flywheel loses all its impetus)

- something that makes a process or activity happen or happen more quickly
(e.g: the ending of the Cold War gave new impetus to idealism)


Phrases:

Origin:
mid 17th century: from Latin, ‘assault, force’, from impetere ‘assail’, from in- ‘towards’ + petere ‘seek’




definition by Oxford Dictionaries