impetus

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin impetus (“a rushing upon, an attack, assault, onset”), from impetō (“to rush upon, attack”), from in- (“upon”) + petō (“to seek, fall upon”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪm.pə.təs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: im‧pe‧tus

Noun

impetus (plural impetuses or impetus)

1. Anything that impels; a stimulating factor.

   The outbreak of World War II in 1939 gave a new impetus to receiver development.

   • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 64:

     Once set a strong mind thinking, and you have done all that it needs for its education. It matters little what is the first impetus, so that it only be set to work.

   • 2011, Phil McNulty, Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England‎:

     In a single moment Montenegro and their supporters were given fresh impetus and encouragement. Beciraj tested Hart with a low shot before teenager Phil Jones, on his England debut, suffered an anxious moment when Stevan Jovetic went down under his challenge, leaving the youngster clearly relieved to see referee Stark wave away Montenegro's appeals.

2. A force, either internal or external, that impels; an impulse.
3. The force or energy associated with a moving body; a stimulus.
4. (history, medieval physics) A principle of motive force, held as equivalent to weight times velocity by John Buridan, in an auxiliary theory of Aristotelian dynamics introduced by 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.

Further reading

• “impetus”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “impetus”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “impetus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• imputes, stumpie, time's up, uptimes

Etymology

Perhaps from earlier *impetītus, which underwent haplology; from impetō (“to rush upon, attack”) +‎ -tus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈim.pe.tus/, [ˈɪmpɛt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈim.pe.tus/, [ˈimpet̪us]

Noun

impetus m (genitive impetūs); fourth declension

1. an attack, an assault, a charge

   Synonyms: incursiō, aggressiō, impressiō, invāsiō, assultus, oppugnātiō, incursus, concursus, occursiō, petītiō, appetītus, ictus, vīs, procella

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico VII.28:

     Ultimas oppidi partes Continenti impetu petiverunt

     By uninterrupted charge they rushed into the utmost parts of the town

2. a rapid motion
3. impulse, vehemence, ardor, passion

   Synonyms: cupīdō, vehementia, libīdō, appetītus, appetītiō, ardor, avāritia, alacritās

4. a making for

References

• “impetus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “impetus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "impetus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• impetus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to have no principles: caeco impetu ferri
    
  • to attack the enemy: invadere, impetum facere in hostem
    
  • to resist the attack, onset: impetum sustinere (B. G. 1. 26)
    
  • to parry the attack: impetum excipere (Liv. 6. 12)
    
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “impetus”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.