English
acceleration
Acceleration may come from French accélération.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentaccélérationuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1859-1860acceleration
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentaccélérationuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1859-1860acceleration
Earliest quotation: 1859-1860, Isaac Taylor: “A period of social improvement, or of intellectual advancement,…”
Formed from accelerate + -ion
Latin accelerātus ‘quickened, hastened, accelerated, having been…’
English accelerate
first attested First attested in 1531 (as stated in the etymology)
The story
First attested in 1531.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kel- ‘to drive, particularly of animals’
Today it means
noun The act of accelerating, or the state of being accelerated; increase of motion or action; as opposed to retardation or deceleration.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French accélération / acceleration