impetus

See also: ímpetus

English

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)

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^[1]:

     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 exquivalent 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.

Related terms

• impetuous

Translations

something that impels

• Azerbaijani: təkan (az), stimul
• Bengali: উদ্দীপনা (bn) (uddipona)
• Bulgarian: стимул (bg) m (stimul)
• Czech: podnět (cs) m
• Dutch: aanleiding (nl), impuls (nl)
• Finnish: sysäys
• German: Antrieb (de) m, Schub (de) m, Anstoß (de) m, Anschub m, Schwung (de) m
• Maori: āinga, kipakipa
• Occitan: impulsion (oc) f
• Persian: برانگیزنده (fa) (barângizanda, barângizande)
• Russian: и́мпульс (ru) m (ímpulʹs), сти́мул (ru) m (stímul), толчо́к (ru) m (tolčók)
• Serbo-Croatian: impetus (sh) m, impuls (sh) m, poticaj (sh) m
• Ukrainian: імпульс m (impulʹs), поштовх m (poštovx), стимул m (stymul)

a force, either internal or external, that impels; an impulse

• Azerbaijani: təkan (az)
• Bulgarian: подбуда (bg) f (podbuda), импулс (bg) m (impuls)
• Czech: impuls m
• Danish: drivkraft c
• Dutch: impuls (nl), stuwkracht (nl)
• Finnish: sysäys
• French: élan (fr) m
• German: Triebkraft f
• Norwegian: drivkraft
• Occitan: impulsion (oc) f
• Persian: نیروی برانگیزنده (nirôye barângizande)
• Portuguese: ímpeto (pt) m

the force or energy associated with a moving body; a stimulus

• Bengali: উদ্দীপনা (bn) (uddipona)
• Bulgarian: устрем (bg) m (ustrem), тласък (bg) m (tlasǎk)
• Czech: stimul m
• Dutch: drijvende kracht, stuwkracht (nl)
• Finnish: liikevoima
• German: Antrieb (de) m, Anschub f
• Occitan: impulsion (oc) f, estimulús m
• Persian: برانگیزنده (fa) (barângizanda, barângizande), انگیختار (fa) (angixtâr)
• Portuguese: impulso (pt)
• Serbo-Croatian: impetus (sh) m, impuls (sh) m, poticaj (sh) m

an activity in response to a stimulus

• Dutch: stimulans (nl), prikkel (nl)
• German: Schwung (de) m, Wucht (de) f, Schub (de) m
• Occitan: impulsion (oc) f, estimulacion (oc) f

See also

• wind at one's back

Further reading

• “impetus”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “impetus”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “impetus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• imputes, stumpie, time's up, uptimes

Latin

Etymology

From impetō (“to rush upon, attack”), from in- (“upon”) + petō (“to seek, fall upon”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) 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

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	impetus	impetūs
Genitive	impetūs	impetuum
Dative	impetuī	impetibus
Accusative	impetum	impetūs
Ablative	impetū	impetibus
Vocative	impetus	impetūs

Descendants

• → Catalan: ímpetu
• Old French: ente, entes
• Italian: empito, impito (dialectal or obsolete)
• → English: impetus
• → German: Impetus
• → Italian: impeto
• → Piedmontese: ìmpit
• → Portuguese: ímpeto
• → Spanish: ímpetu

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^[2], 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)
    
• “impetus”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.