English
momentum
Momentum comes from Latin mōmentum ‘movement, motion, impulse’, from Proto-Italic *moweō ‘to move’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)ewh₁-‘to move’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)owh₁éyetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moweō‘to move’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*mowementomreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*movimentum‘movement’reconstructed
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōmentum‘movement, motion, impulse’
- Englishearliest quotation 1843momentum
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)ewh₁-‘to move’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)owh₁éyetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moweō‘to move’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*mowementomreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*movimentum‘movement’reconstructed
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōmentum‘movement, motion, impulse’
- Englishearliest quotation 1843momentum
Earliest quotation: 1843, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from an Old Manse: “The travellers swarm forth from the cars. All are…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- ‘to move’
through Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh₁éyeti
remove, movement, automobile, automotive, promoter, mover, immobile, emotionless, 83 more
through Proto-Italic *moweō ‘to move’
move, mobile, emotional, auto, motor, remote, promote, promotion, emotion, mobility, motive, motivate, motif, mobilization, removable, mobilize, mobilisation, motility, mobilise, emote, motile, 91 more
Today it means
noun Of a body in motion: the tendency of a body to maintain its inertial motion; the product of its mass and velocity, or the vector sum of the products of its masses and velocities.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- / momentum