moment

From Middle English moment, from Old French moment, from Latin mōmentum. Doublet of momentum and movement.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈməʊmənt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmoʊmənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mo‧ment

moment (countable and uncountable, plural moments)

1. A brief, unspecified amount of time.

   Synonyms: stound, instant, trice

   Wait a moment, while I lock the front door.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:

     Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, […] , and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:

     Sophia broke down here. Even at this moment she was subconsciously comparing her rendering of the part of the forlorn bride with Miss Marie Lohr's.

   • 2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:

     Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.

2. The smallest portion of time; an instant.
   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:

     Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.

3. (figurative) Weight or importance.
   • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene vii], line 67:

     In deep designs, in matter of great moment, / No less importing than our general good.

   • 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Second Stain, (Norton 2005, p.1192)

     The document in question is of such immense importance that its publication might very easily – I might almost say probably – lead to European complications of the utmost moment.

   • 1941 May, “Notes and News: William Stroudley”, in Railway Magazine, page 234:

     As to any suggestion that Stroudley's engines were not free-running at high speed, this was of little moment with 60 m.p.h. laid down as the limit at that time.

4. (physics, mechanics) Ellipsis of moment of force.

   Synonym: torque

5. (historical, unit) A definite period of time, specifically one-tenth of a point, or one-fortieth or one-fiftieth of an hour.
6. (neurology, informal) A petit mal episode; such a spell.
7. (colloquial) A fit; a brief tantrum.
8. (mathematics) An infinitesimal change in a varying quantity; an increment or decrement.
9. (mathematics) A quantitative measure of the shape of a set of points.

   If the points represent mass, then the zeroth moment is the total mass, the first moment divided by the total mass is the center of mass, and the second moment is the rotational inertia.

10. (Internet slang, derogatory) (As in "X moment") An embarrassing event, supposed to be characteristic of some person, group, or situation.

    woman moment

    Reddit moment

• torque

• 1897 Universal Dictionary of the English Language, v 3 p 3174. ("The smallest portion of time; an instant." is a direct quote from this Dictionary.)

• moment on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• montem

From Latin mōmentum.

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /moˈment/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /muˈmen/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ent

moment m (plural moments)

1. moment (specific instant or time)
   • […] el català, malgrat tot, viu un moment de glòria efímera durant els darrers anys del segle XVIII i primers del XIX.

     Catalan, in spite of everything, had a moment of ephemeral glory in the last years of the 18th century and the first ones of the 19th.

• de moment
• momentet

• “moment” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “moment”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “moment” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “moment” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• IPA^(key): [ˈmomɛnt]

• Audio

  (file)

moment m

1. moment (specific instant or time)

• See motiv

• moment in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• moment in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

From Middle Dutch moment, from Middle French moment, from Latin momentum.

• IPA^(key): /moːˈmɛnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mo‧ment
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

moment n (plural momenten, diminutive momentje n)

1. moment (very brief period of time)

   Synonym: ogenblik

2. (physics) moment of force, moment

   Synonym: krachtmoment

• Afrikaans: moment
• → Indonesian: momen

From Latin mōmentum.

• IPA^(key): /mɔ.mɑ̃/

• audio

  (file)

moment m (plural moments)

1. moment (point in time)
2. moment (short period of time)
3. a while

   Ça fait un moment que je l'attends

   I've been waiting for him for a while

4. (physics, mechanics) moment, momentum

• instant

• “moment”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From Latin mōmentum.

moment m (plural moments)

1. moment, instant

From Latin momentum, from movere.

• IPA^(key): /mʊˈmɛnt/

moment n (definite singular momentet, indefinite plural moment, definite plural momenta)

1. element, variable, contributing factor or circumstance

   Det er mange moment som spelar inn her.

   There are many variables at play here.

2. (physics) moment of force

• “moment” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Latin mōmentum.

• Audio (Béarn)

  (file)

moment m (plural moments)

1. moment

Borrowed from Latin mōmentum.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔ.mɛnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔmɛnt
• Syllabification: mo‧ment

moment m inan (diminutive momencik)

1. (physics) moment

   moment bezwładności ― moment of inertia

   moment gnący / moment zginający ― bending moment

   moment pędu ― angular momentum, moment of momentum

   moment siły ― moment of force

   moment skręcający ― twisting moment

2. moment (short period of time)

   Synonym: chwila

moment

1. (colloquial) wait a minute

• moment in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• moment in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from French moment, from Latin momentum.

• IPA^(key): [moˈment]

moment n (plural momente)

1. moment (brief period of time) (clarification of this definition is needed)

• la un moment dat
• pentru moment

• momentan

• clipă
• secundă

From Latin momentum.

moment n

1. a step in a process

   Nästa moment blir att föra in stavarna i kärnreaktorn

   The next step will be to insert the rods into the nuclear reactor

   ett kritiskt moment

   a critical step

2. an independent part of some (abstract) whole; an element, a factor
3. (physics) moment

• orosmoment
• överraskningsmoment

• moment in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• moment in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• moment in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)