im·pe·tus

(ĭm′pĭ-təs)

n. pl. im·pe·tus·es

1. An impelling force; an impulse.

2. The force or energy associated with a moving body.

a. Something that incites; a stimulus.

b. Increased activity in response to a stimulus: The approaching deadline gave impetus to the investigation.

[Middle English impetous, from Latin impetus, from impetere, to attack : in-, against; see in-² + petere, to go towards, seek; see pet- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

impetus

(ˈɪmpɪtəs)

n, pl -tuses

1. an impelling movement or force; incentive or impulse; stimulus

2. (General Physics) physics the force that sets a body in motion or that tends to resist changes in a body's motion

[C17: from Latin: attack, from impetere to assail, from im- (in) + petere to make for, seek out]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

im•pe•tus

(ˈɪm pɪ təs)

n., pl. -tus•es.

1. a driving force; impulse; stimulus.

2. the momentum of a moving body, esp. with reference to the cause of motion.

[1650–60; < Latin: attack]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	impetus - a force that moves something along drift, impulsion force - (physics) the influence that produces a change in a physical quantity; "force equals mass times acceleration"
	2.	impetus - the act of applying force suddenly; "the impulse knocked him over" impulsion, impulse drive, driving force, thrust - the act of applying force to propel something; "after reaching the desired velocity the drive is cut off"

impetus

noun

1. incentive, push, spur, motivation, impulse, stimulus, catalyst, goad, impulsion She needed a new impetus for her talent.

2. force, power, energy, momentum This decision will give renewed impetus to economic regeneration.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

impetus

noun

Something that causes and encourages a given response:

encouragement, fillip, impulse, incentive, inducement, motivation, prod, push, spur, stimulant, stimulation, stimulator, stimulus.

Translations

قُوَّةٌ دافِعَه، حافِز زَخَم

podnětpopudstimulimpuls

kraft

Antrieb Aufwind Impetus

ώθηση

ímpetu

incitation

lendítõerõ

drifkraftur

impeto impulso spinta

greičio jėga

dzinējspēksstimuls

drivkraft fart framover

devinim gücüdürtüitme

促进推动力

impetus

[ˈɪmpɪtəs] N (lit) (= force) → ímpetu m (fig) → impulso m
to give an impetus to sales → impulsar or incentivar las ventas

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

impetus

[ˈɪmpɪtəs] n

(= stimulus) → impulsion f
to give new impetus to sth → donner un nouvel élan à qch, donner une nouvelle impulsion à qch

[runner] → élan m

impinge on

[ɪmˈpɪndʒɒn] vt fus

[+ person] → affecter, toucher

[+ rights] → empiéter sur

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

impetus

n (lit, fig) → Impuls m; (= force) → Kraft f; (= momentum) → Schwung m, → Impetus m (geh); the impetus behind this increase in activity → die treibende Kraft hinter dieser zunehmenden Aktivität; to give (an) impetus to something (fig) → einer Sache (dat) → Impulse geben

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

impetus

[ˈɪmpɪtəs] n (force) → spinta, impeto (fig) → impulso

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

impetus

(ˈimpətəs) noun

the force or energy with which something moves.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Ultimately some of the minor spars did go - nothing important: spanker-booms and such-like - because at times the frightful impetus of her rolling would part a fourfold tackle of new three- inch Manilla line as if it were weaker than pack-thread.

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There is then in all persons a natural impetus to associate with each other in this manner, and he who first founded civil society was the cause of the greatest good; for as by the completion of it man is the most excellent of all living beings, so without law and justice he would be the worst of all, for nothing is so difficult to subdue as injustice in arms: but these arms man is born with, namely, prudence and valour, which he may apply to the most opposite purposes, for he who abuses them will be the most wicked, the most cruel, the most lustful, and most gluttonous being imaginable; for justice is a political virtue, by the rules of it the state is regulated, and these rules are the criterion of what is right.

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(The wheel continued to revolve by its own impetus, and Princess Mary long remembered the dying creak of that wheel, which merged in her memory with what followed.)

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In less than an hour he left the rudder and furled his sails, whilst the sledge, carried forward by the great impetus the wind had given it, went on half a mile further with its sails unspread.

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The only propelling force it ever exhibited, was the mere impetus acquired from the descent of the inclined plane ; and this impetus carried the machine farther when the vanes were at rest, than when they were in motion - a fact which sufficiently demonstrates their inutility ; and in the absence of the propelling, which was also the sustaining power, the whole fabric would necessarily descend.

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He had backed me around so that I stood in front of the corpse of his fellow, and then he rushed me suddenly so that I was forced back upon it, and as my heel struck it the impetus of my body flung me backward across the dead man.

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Bold in his conceptions, he contributed powerfully to the progress of that arm and gave an immense impetus to experimental researches.

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DOUGLASS could be persuaded to conse- crate his time and talents to the promotion of the anti-slavery enterprise, a powerful impetus would be given to it, and a stunning blow at the same time inflicted on northern prejudice against a colored complexion.

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By its own power of impulsion our apparatus made a canal for itself; some times carried away by its own impetus, it lodged on the ice-field, crushing it with its weight, and sometimes buried beneath it, dividing it by a simple pitching movement, producing large rents in it.

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`Even this artistic impetus would at last die away--had almost died in the Time I saw.

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The Martian staggered with the violence of her explosion, and in another moment the flaming wreckage, still driving forward with the impetus of its pace, had struck him and crumpled him up like a thing of cardboard.

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The regiment, relieved of a burden, received a new impetus. But there was much loss of valuable knapsacks, and, on the whole, very good shirts.

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