# momentum

Pronunciation: say "moh-MEN-tuhm" US /ˌmoʊˈmɛntəm/, UK /ˌmə(ʊ)ˈmɛntəm/, AUS /ˌməʉˈmentəm/

## Noun

1. The impetus of a body in motion, or of an idea or course of events.
   - Simple: The push or force that keeps something moving, or that keeps an idea or events going forward.
   - _The reform effort lost momentum once its main sponsor left office._
   - _The cyclist used the momentum from the descent to climb the next hill._
2. The force or strength that something builds up as it moves.
   - Simple: The force something builds up as it keeps moving.
   - _The runners picked up momentum on the gentle slope before the final stretch._
   - _A spinning flywheel stores momentum that can be released to drive the machine._
3. The tendency of a moving body to keep moving, equal to the product of its mass and its velocity.
   - Simple: How hard a moving object is to stop, based on how heavy it is and how fast it moves.
   - _The momentum of a moving particle equals its mass times its velocity._
   - _Engineers calculate the momentum of each component to predict how the parts will behave after impact._
4. In market analysis, the presumed tendency of an asset's existing price trend to keep accelerating in its current direction.
   - Simple: In trading, the idea that a price moving strongly in one direction will keep going that way.
   - _Analysts noted that the rally had lost momentum as trading volume thinned._
   - _The strategy buys assets showing strong momentum and sells those whose trend is fading._

## Origin

From Latin "mōmentum", making it a doublet of "moment" and "movement".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/momentum (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).