impetus

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Synonyms: iapetus

Antonyms: iapetus

Related words from Datamuse; suggestions, not definitions.

Noun

1. Anything that [[impel]]s; a stimulating factor.
2. A [[force]], either [[internal]] or [[external]], that impels; an [[impulse]].
3. The force or [[energy]] associated with a moving body; a [[stimulus]].
4. {{lb|en|history|medieval|_|physics}} A [[principle]] of [[motive]] force, held as equivalent to [[weight]] times [[velocity]] by {{w|John Buridan}}, in an auxiliary theory of Aristotelian dynamics introduced by {{w|John Philoponus}}, describing [[projectile]] motion against [[gravity]] as [[linear]] until it transitions to a [[vertical]] [[drop]] and the intellectual precursor to the concepts of [[inertia]], [[momentum]] and [[acceleration]] in classical mechanics.
5. An [[activity]] in [[response]] to a [[stimulus]].

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.